LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Tens of millions of people across the U.S. watched yesterday's solar eclipse. We asked listeners to tell us about the experience.
(SOUNDBITE OF BACON SIZZLING)
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Now, for some, the day started with tailgating. Steve Riden cooked up bacon for his kids as they waited in northern Vermont.
STEVE RIDEN: We're actually in a parking lot of an old mall. There are families around us playing cards. There are kids running around. There's dogs. And there is not a cloud in the sky here in St. Johnsbury, Vermont today.
FADEL: And just before totality, the sky turned gray, the wind died down and people got quiet.
RIDEN: It is remarkable how dark everything is getting right now. It went from a warm, sunny day to now...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my gosh.
(CHEERING)
RIDEN: Oh, my God. Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Look. Take off your glasses.
RIDEN: Whoa (laughter).
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: That looks awesome.
(CHEERING)
RIDEN: I've never seen anything like that.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: This is wild.
RIDEN: This is unbelievable.
MARTÍNEZ: The sound of wonder - now, some made plans far in advance. Will Pedigo and his family got hooked after the eclipse of 2017.
(SOUNDBITE OF SNOW CRUNCHING UNDER FOOTSTEPS)
WILL PEDIGO: We booked a farmhouse in Schuyler Falls, N.Y., almost two years ago. And now I'm standing out in the middle of a field in about six inches of snow...
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRD SQUAWKING)
PEDIGO: ...With crisp, clear, blue skies.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Look, look, the sunset.
PEDIGO: Oh, look. All the way around.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: There's the 360 sunset.
PEDIGO: Sunset everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Oh, wow. All the way.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: There's a 360 sunset.
PEDIGO: Wow. This is unreal. And the stars are out.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I know.
FADEL: Six-year-old Simon Giles from Pittsburgh packed snacks for a road trip.
SIMON GILES: I'm skipping school to drive to Buffalo to watch with my grandparents and uncles.
MARTÍNEZ: Another family, Gina Montana and her daughter Jahia Montana-Forbes, traveled from New Orleans to Terrell, Texas.
GINA MONTANA: It's Jamie Foxx's hometown (laughter). And we have our glasses and our matching T-shirts and matching earrings with little suns on them.
FADEL: And they witnessed their second totality together from a field of wildflowers.
MONTANA: This is so amazing.
JAHIA MONTANA-FORBES: It's amazing and beautiful. You can see the corona. The middle of the sun is completely black.
MONTANA: There's a planet. I don't know if it's Venus or Jupiter. We're citizens of the planet Earth, and we pray for peace - peace of mind, peace throughout the world.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Yeah. Yeah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.