For some Springfield resident, total solar eclipse is 'twice-in-a-lifetime experience'
Caitlin Darling of Springfield said she cried viewing the total solar eclipse in southern Illinois in 2017.
"It really was the coolest thing," Darling recalled. "I could use a good cry again. I'm sure I'm going to love it one way or another."
Darling, along with her husband, Mike, and daughters, Olivia, 17, and Vivien, 12, are again making the trek to southern Illinois, this time to Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area bordering Rend Lake, for Monday's eclipse.
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A wide swath of southern Illinois will be in total darkness for just over four minutes beginning just before 2 p.m. when the moon aligns with the sun, casting a shadow over Earth. Totality this time will be twice as long as in 2017.
It will be the last total eclipse over the U.S. until 2045, but Illinoisans won't get to experience a total eclipse here until 2099.
Nearly 200,000 people made the jaunt to southern Illinois in 2017, generating a visitor spending impact estimated between $15 million and $18 million, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office of Tourism.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is reminding residents and visitors to be prepared for heavy traffic on rural roads and highways in southern Illinois in the hours after the eclipse.
Josh Witkowski of Springfield viewed the 2017 eclipse in Chester, Illinois, and plans to return to southern Illinois Monday.
He called that experience "absolutely awe-inspiring."
"Seeing stars in the mid-afternoon is surreal enough," said Witkowski, a lobbyist. "It was pretty wild."
One thing Witkowski is prepared for this time around? The traffic. What would have been normally been a three-hour drive to Chester turned into an eight-hour excursion.
"Even with the traffic nightmare, it was still worth it," he said.
More: Eclipsing expectations: Why experts say this celestial event might make you gasp
Darling said she had physical response to the eclipse last time in Ava, Illinois. She felt her heart racing and she got choked up.
Darling admitted she is probably "more excited this time around" because she knows what to expect.
"Being a Midwesterner and driving three hours is nothing," Darling said. "This is technically a twice-in-a-lifetime experience, so I'd tell anybody to get in the car and go."
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Solar eclipse: Springfield residents ready to hit the road
