Viewing the Total Eclipse from Charleston, South Carolina

As luck would have it, my family and I were able to plan our annual beach trip to Charleston, South Carolina so that it would coincide perfectly during the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. We arrived in Charleston on Saturday afternoon, and naively went to Market Street to get milkshakes from Kaminsky’s. Somehow, we managed to not only score a close parking spot but it even had 55 minutes left on the meter. That never happens on a weekend in Charleston by Market Street, and for it to happen on one of, if not THE biggest weekend of the century for the area, is just unheard of.

Back to those milkshakes, briefly. We got a Cookies n’ Cream, Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup, and a Butterfinger milkshake and these were seriously the best milkshakes we had possibly ever had. I can’t speak of the rest of the food at Kaminsky’s but definitely go for the milkshakes. They had a display case of cakes and pies that also looked delicious.

We walked around downtown Charleston for a bit, browsing in some of the shops before making our way back to our car, then we vowed to not go back into downtown Charleston until after the eclipse, Monday evening at the earliest. We stayed in an Airbnb townhouse in Mt. Pleasant. Let me just say how much I enjoy staying in Mt. Pleasant. If you’re planning on going to both downtown Charleston and the beaches, Mt. Pleasant is the perfect place to stay because it’s right in the middle between both, so you never really have a long drive to either place.

My daughter watching the partial eclipse

Since Charleston was in the southern tip of the path of the eclipse, the partial eclipse didn’t occur until around 1:15’ish. Wearing our stylish eclipse glasses, we were able to see the moon start to cover the sun even though it was extremely cloudy. Like a miracle, you could look at the sun with your glasses, and there was the sun shining bright, getting slowly smaller and smaller as the moon moved in front of it. Eventually the sun was a small orange sliver, then eventually total darkness and totality began- the real fun!

While a partial eclipse was pretty cool to witness, totality was truly amazing! I tried to take some photos during totality but of course pictures could never do it justice. This is something that is an experience, and viewing it on a screen or anything else other than in person just is not the same. It would be like watching a show about the Grand Canyon versus going there and hiking through it and seeing it in person. It’s just not the same.

Our spot for viewing the eclipse overlooked the water

When totality was happening, there were outcries of joy around us, clapping, and lots of exclamations from others. We were watching from a park by the water in Mt. Pleasant. Dogs and small children were running around, clueless to what was going on around them. There was definitely a vibe of something indescribable, like we all knew what we were experiencing was a once in a lifetime occurrence for most people, and we all appreciated that we were able to be a part of it.

I’m sure now that it’s over, some people will say things like, “It wasn’t that great,” or it wasn’t what they expected. It was surely hyped-up by the media and for some people it wouldn’t be able to live up to the hype. For me, though, it’s something I know I’ll always remember experiencing and I feel lucky to have been a part of it.

Did any of you guys get to experience totality? What did you think of the eclipse?