'Center of the universe': Erie basks in limelight of the solar eclipse's path of totality

As the moon covered the sun at 3:16 p.m. in Erie on Monday, and as the air grew cold and the sky grew dark, something else momentous occurred.

Hannah Gaudite and Luis Gongora got married at Frontier Park.

The wedding, at the park's amphitheater, was planned.

The two Philadelphia residents described themselves as fans of space who watched an eclipse on television when they first met.

They picked Erie for their nuptials based on its status as the only major Pennsylvania city in the "path of totality" for Monday's total eclipse.

They and their 68 guests assembled at the amphitheater, on the north side of Frontier, as crowds filled the south side. As that throng of more than a thousand cheered as the moon obscured the sun at 3:16 p.m., Gaudite, 33, and Gongora, 35, officially tied the knot.

"Amazing," Gongora said of the confluence of events. "Nothing like it. A once-in-a-lifetime experience."

That theme played out throughout the Erie area on Monday.

From the smallest of backyards to the biggest of venues — including Frontier, Lake Erie Speedway, UPMC Park, Perry Square, Presque Isle State Park and the remote Erie National Wildlife Refuge in Crawford County — residents and tourists young and old wore their ISO-certified glasses and looked to the heavens.

They witnessed a celestial phenomenon that will next occur on Aug. 22, 2044. And that total solar eclipse won't be visible in Erie.

More: Eclipse coverage in Erie, around Pennsylvania: Review Monday's updates, observations

'A fabulous experience'

Michael Bush remembers reading as a fifth-grader growing up in Erie that a total solar eclipse would be visible here years later near his birthday.

Bush, 54 and a resident of central Pennsylvania, returned Monday to Presque Isle State Park's Beach 1 to be in the path of totality.

Like thousands of others who watched the eclipse from Presque Isle beaches, he wasn't disappointed.

"Wow," he said as the moon passed over the sign and light returned to a beach that had been plunged into nighttime darkness a few moments before. "I've been in 93% totality before and it's not even close."

The day turned out far better than many expected.

Greg Harris, a social worker from Baltimore, and his wife, Sharon, an engineer, weren't feeling too hopeful when they woke up Monday morning in a hotel near Sharon.

It was gray and rainy and it looked like it might stay that way, but Greg Harris said he wasn't glad they didn't turn back.

"It was a fabulous experience," he said as he and his wife slumped in chairs and looked at the sun from behind the protection of eclipse glasses.

Matt Greene, operations manager at Presque Isle State Park, said earlier in the day that a gloomy weather forecast might have kept some people away or at least delayed their arrival.

Dushawne Evans and his 10-year-old son Jayden Evans weren't about to miss a chance to see a total eclipse. The two drove about six hours from Bowie, Maryland, stopping for the night near Pittsburgh when they realized most hotel rooms in the Erie area were booked.

The two are drone enthusiasts who purchased special filters that enabled them to photograph the eclipse.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event," the older Evans said. "We decided to go for it."

'This was amazing'

Kwasi Acquuah planned months ago to visit Erie for the total eclipse and take high-quality photos.

His brother, Parry, decided late last week to tag along.

"We got together for Easter at our parents' house, and he got talking about the eclipse," Parry Acquuah said. "I thought that it sounded like a pretty good deal, so I said, 'Why not?'"

The two brothers, who live in the Washington, D.C., metro area, were among more than 1,000 people who watched and celebrated the eclipse Monday at Mercyhurst University.

Many of those in attendance were Mercyhurst students, faculty and staff, but others had traveled hundreds of miles for the event.

"We had thought about going to Cleveland but as we drove up Saturday, we decided to stay here," Parry Acquuah said. "It was closer to our homes and the forecast was decent."

The brothers set up tripods for their cameras on the university's baseball field.

Kwasi Acquaah is an engineer with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and is an avid astrophotographer. After the eclipse, he said it was well worth the drive.

"I can understand why people want to be on the path of totality," Kwasi Acquaah said. "Partial eclipses are special, but this was amazing."

While the Acquaah brothers were photographing the eclipse, Nicholas Lang was monitoring the temperature and posing for selfies.

Lang, a Mercyhurst geology professor, is temporarily working for NASA. He spent the afternoon at the university's Saxon Stadium teaching people about the eclipse.

He also had oversized eclipse glasses and signs for people to use as they took selfies. Lang even posed for a few himself.

"I also monitored the temperature before and during the eclipse," Lang said, pointing to a hand-drawn chart. "You can see it was 72 degrees before the eclipse started, then it went all the way down to 59 during totality. Now it's back up to 60 as we are still in the partial eclipse."

The eclipse as the 'Great Divider'

In Edinboro, at Pennsylvania Western University, David Hurd, planetarium director and professor of geosciences, provided frequent updates on the eclipse as well as eclipse lore during the university's watch party at Mallory Lake.

Hurd calls the 2024 eclipse the "Great Divider" because of the divide between major cities in the path of totality of the eclipse and cities just outside the path.

"Can you imagine the mayhem and traffic as people in San Antonio, Austin, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Toronto and Montreal try to get to Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo and other cities in the path of totality," Hurd said.

Busloads of secondary students from around the state watched the eclipse at PennWest Edinboro. They were treated to a university planetarium show before the sky darkened.

Students came from schools in Pittsburgh, Sewickley and Beaver County and from Mennonite schools in Lancaster and Montgomery County. Students from Bucknell University and from PennWest's California and Clarion campuses also came to campus to see the eclipse.

Food trucks, a fraternity-sponsored dunking booth, kids' activities, T-shirt and jewelry sales, and a live broadcast of eclipse, sun and moon-themed music by campus radio station WFSE-FM helped entertain a watch party crowd estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000 by campus police.

Friends Kathy Helzlsouer and Jean-Luc Renaux, of Baltimore, and Denise Joseph, of Pittsburgh, came to PennWest University in Edinboro to watch the eclipse.

"We're so glad we chose to come here," Helzlsouer said. "We're enjoying ourselves."

More: 'You are right in the middle of it': Vendors hawk Erie-themed wares for the solar eclipse

Shapiro lauds Erie as 'a destination'

Tucked in the northwestern corner of the state, Erie can sometimes seem to be apart from the rest of Pennsylvania. On Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro exhorted Erie to bask in the kind of spotlight that only a total solar eclipse can generate.

"We're fortunate that Pennsylvania is one of only 13 states in the path of the totality, and right here in Erie we are at 100% totality this afternoon, making us center of the universe," Shapiro said during a visit to Lake Erie Speedway in North East.

"Right, Erie?" Shapiro shouted to the crowd, which responded with cheers. "I'm so damn proud to be your governor, I'm so psyched for Erie and for Pennsylvania, and I hope everybody has an awesome day."

Shapiro also visited UPMC Park, where he posed with C. Wolf, the mascot of the Erie Seawolves minor league baseball team, and Perry Square, where he stood on stage with Erie Mayor Joe Schember.

Governor, astronaut and more: Visitors make pitstop at Lake Erie Speedway to view solar eclipse

"The best place to see it is right here in Erie," Shapiro said of the eclipse during his remarks in Perry Square. "And I want to say how awesome it is to be here with folks who are focused on tourism, making Erie a destination."

Big crowds, sold-out hotels and pin-drop silence

The scope of the attraction became clear to John Oliver, CEO of VisitErie, Erie County's tourism promotion agency, as he talked with people in Perry Square, where he met four self-described eclipse chasers who traveled from Nepal.

"Overall, I think the crowd was good. We know the hotels were sold out," Oliver said.

It will take time and some help from a consultant to figure out just how many visitors were in town. And while the number was in the thousands, Oliver said the crowd might have been hurt a bit by a dismal weather forecast for Monday that might have prompted some people to stay home.

"It's very hard to estimate the crowd when you had events spread across the county," he said. "You had events in North East, events in west county and Edinboro. You had people dispersed in a lot of different locations. Even downtown, you had people in Perry Square on the bayfront and in Liberty Park."

More than the crowds, more than the money spent at local hotels and restaurants, Oliver said he was struck by the reaction of the crowds.

"When totality hit, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was just silent," he said.

Traffic heavy as visitors head south

Aside from some predictably slow traffic on Presque Isle State Park, most of the Erie area seemed to dodge the traffic logjam that many had expected.

But it wasn't smooth driving for everyone.

Following the eclipse, motorists reported that southbound traffic on Interstate 79 got heavier as they drove further south. One motorist said traffic was moving at about 15 mph at the Cochranton-Geneva exit in southern Crawford County and slowed down even more by the Greenville exit in Mercer County.

At 5:50 p.m., two hours after totality ended, traffic was backed up near Grove City.

A day that will be hard to eclipse

Back at Frontier Park earlier in the day, the activities captured the spectacular weirdness of the afternoon. As the wedding party sat in respectful silence at the amphitheater, the local band Phunkademic took the stage on the other side of the park and launched into playing all of Pink Floyd's classic album "The Dark Side of the Moon."

The end of the band's set was meant to coincide with the start of the total eclipse. Phunkademic wrapped up with the album's final song, "Eclipse," and its final lyrics: "And everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon."

The crowd cheered at the song, and cheered louder as the sun really was eclipsed by the moon.

Across the park, newlyweds Luis Gongora and Hannah Gaudite beamed after their wedding ceremony. They smiled under the light of a newly emergent sun.

"A once-in-a-lifetime love," Gaudite said.

Contributing to this report were staff writers David Bruce, Mike Copper, Kevin Flowers, Valerie Myers, Matthew Rink, Tom Reisenweber, and Jeff Uveino.

Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 'Center of the universe': Erie basks in limelight of the solar eclipse