Total solar eclipse makes for stellar day as county residents, visitors look in ‘Ahh’

Total solar eclipse makes for stellar day as county residents, visitors look in ‘Ahh’

WARREN -- Visitors from as far as Washington, D.C., flocked to the city Monday to witness the total solar eclipse.

American University students gathered at Courthouse Square to watch the celestial spectacle.

Joining others camped out on the lawn of the square, many flocked to Warren and Trumbull County from all corners of the nation, forming a small slice of eclipse-chasers among a staggering statistic of 31 million potential stargazers that fell within the 2,000 mile-long path of totality that stretched across 15 states, from the southern reaches of Texas to the shores of Maine.

Studying abroad in the United States, 21-year-old Miles King, from London, said he and friends Aidan Byran, Clark Walburger and Max Krivonosov started their drive up to Ohio at 8 a.m. The group of students said they arrived about 30 minutes before the eclipse, securing a spot in downtown Warren.

"I kind of assumed it would be one moment where suddenly it happens but it wasn't. It's a fade into that was really cool to see," King said. "Pictures just don't do that justice. You have to be able to see it to describe it."

Having no idea what to expect, Walburger, a California native, said he was in awe, "You think you'd have the presence of mind to think of something else, but you're just entirely in the moment whether you want to or not in the best way possible," he said.

The group said the residents they encountered left them feeling embraced and welcomed.

Pittsburgh resident Kevin Chung said he and a group of five others made a last-minute detour to Warren after a quick Google search. Plans to travel to Cleveland stalled when traffic was reported to be congested.

"It was phenomenal," Chang said. "It was the first time I've ever seen it in my life, and it was just amazing to think of all the times when eclipses occurred throughout our history. You can imagine during those times what it was like for things to get colder and darker and people not noticing until they were in total darkness."

The sight of so many out-of-towners were welcome to local businesses in the downtown that all say they saw an increase in business as many flocked to the heart of the city.

John Ramsey, owner of Nova Coffee just across from the Square, said he and workers prepared themselves in anticipation of an estimated 30,000 people swarming the area. Ramsey said information from the county tourism bureau and a look back at the data from the 2017 eclipse helped give them a frame of reference of what was in store for Monday.

The coffee shop owner said, "We prepared as best we could. We had everybody on staff work today, and it still wasn't enough but we made out all right."

Capitalizing on the moment the shop worked outside of its normal morning to early afternoon hours. Instead, the shop opened early in the afternoon and closed its doors at 7 p.m.

"We've seen a lot of out-of-state and out-of-country people, so it was pretty unique to have people ordering from our coffee shop things like half-caffs, which we don't have but it's a traditional overseas beverage," Ramsey said.

Outpacing a normal day's operation, Ramsey said Nova Coffee saw about a 60% increase in business.

A little ways down the block, the Best Western Park Hotel said it received 45 bookings that came in over the weekend with most of them set to check out sometime today.

Have an interesting news story? Contact Chris McBride by email at cmcbride@tribtoday.com.