Such a Heavenly View: Celebrating Solar Eclipse at Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Ohio

After missing out on 2017 solar eclipse spectacle in US, I’ve decided that I wouldn’t make the same mistake this year. Originally, I was debating between flying to San Antonio and Niagara Falls, both easily accessible from Florida. But when my sister-in-law got married and moved to Michigan, I pivoted to that location instead. We would simply drive to Ohio path of totality  from Detroit area in 1.5-2 hours.

My reasoning was: Even if we don’t witness the eclipse due to cloud coverage, we would still get to visit family, so it would be a win. I knew our chances weren’t great, especially compared to San Antonio. Ironically, the latter was  a bust. The same goes for Niagara Falls. Spoiler alert! Despite “doom and gloom” weather forecasts, Ohio delivered big time. I’m so happy for my blogging partner Nancy and her family in Dallas, since the clouds parted just in time for them to see the totality.

Because my kids are in public school, I had to keep this trip brief so not to miss too many days. We used Southwest currency  for a nonstop flight from Tampa to Detroit on Saturday, April 6th at a  cost of 11k points per person. For return leg on Tuesday, I burned Virgin Atlantic currency for a nonstop Delta flight at a  cost of only 8,500 points per person (the rate is a bit higher now).

Having points on hand made it much easier to justify this gamble, that’s for sure. I’m not certain I would be willing to use up our limited savings for this very iffy endeavor. Knowing what I know now, it would be worth every penny, but only because we were extremely fortunate to get a clear sky during eclipse day. My husband has a good friend in Wisconsin, and we  reached out to see if him and his wife would be willing to drive to Michigan to hang out with us, and then drive to Ohio for the eclipse. They agreed.

Ironically, neither him nor my BIL had any intention to see the eclipse, despite living within driving distance. We spent Sunday visiting the Henry Ford museum in Detroit, which I highly recommend. The forecast for Monday wasn’t looking great, with thick cloud cover expected in the state of Ohio. Everyone was quite tired, so we decided not to drive to Indiana, which supposedly had much better odds at seeing the eclipse. We would take our chances at Neil Armstrong museum in Wapakoneta (Ohio), a place my husband was excited to visit anyway. What a fitting spot to see the eclipse, right?

My SIL also surprised my husband with a drive through Fostoria, Ohio where their  late father spent his childhood. We even got to see the house where he grew up, and visit the grave of my husband’s great-grandfather, who apparently served in the Navy.

The big day

We decided to leave at 6:30 AM from Mount Clemens in Detroit area where we were staying while visiting in-laws. Looking back, it was probably an overkill, but it helped to avoid major traffic jams. We made it to Wapakoneta at around 9:30 AM and the free parking lot was completely full by then.

We were directed to a field nearby and were charged $40 parking fee per vehicle, so $80 total. That honestly borders on extortion, but it’s not like we had any choice, so we paid it. My elderly MIL was with us, so we had to get as close as we could to the museum.

People were staking out spots on the lawn, and I was thrilled to be able to find an empty picnic table. A major score!

Our friend from Wisconsin quickly ran up to the table and threw his Green Bay Packers blanket on it. As the day progressed, more folks were showing up to witness the eclipse. Below is the shot taken at noon.

The atmosphere was very festive, and you could almost feel the excitement in the air. It was palpable. There were concession stands, several folks were selling eclipse t-shirts, and music was playing. Good times.

To me this was the biggest surprise of all. I was  dreading dealing with the crowds, but  it was honestly the best part. We all came together for one glorious purpose, and  it was clear that we all would remember this day for the rest of our lives.

We had plenty of time to visit the museum, something my husband wouldn’t miss for the world. I enjoyed it as well, though I’m not into space the way he is.

 It was neat to see an actual moon rock:

I kept thinking that the clouds would show up any minute now, but it never happened. The sky stayed mostly clear all day. The big moment was approaching, as we witnessed the sun getting thinner and thinner.

My son was so excited, he started dancing to “Sky full of stars” by Coldplay, while watching the eclipse.  The local news crew was filming nearby, so it’s possible that he became a minor TV celebrity for a few brief seconds that day.

I joined in, and we danced together. I’m still humming this tune two days later:

“Because you are sky,

You’re a sky full of stars

…Such a heavenly view.”

And  then it finally happened. Four minutes of totality.

All of a sudden, the temperature dropped 20 degrees and it got very dark. A mouse came out from hiding, thinking it’s nighttime.

I wish I could say that this is my photo, alas, it is not (credit goes to Lucie McCormick at Scientificamerican.com)

But that’s exactly what we saw in the sky, solar prominence and all.

This is probably my favorite eclipse shot (posted on Reddit), taken next to Lady Victory statue in Indianapolis:

 

Everyone on the lawn  broke out in applause, there were cheers and gasps everywhere. An old guy behind us kept yelling in excitement “I see Venus” over and over again. Our friend from Wisconsin whispered to my husband” “Great! But can you see Uranus?” and they both snickered. Idiots.

But in all seriousness, it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. As someone who believes in God, for me there was definitely a spiritual component to it. Everyone else in our party felt the same way, and said they were glad we flew to Michigan and arranged this whole crazy thing. We all knew we were part of something extremely rare, and I proposed a pact that we would meet in Florida for 2045 solar eclipse. Everyone agreed, including my MIL who will turn 100 in 2045. But hey, a promise is a promise.

On our flight back to Florida my daughter mentioned that she is grateful to me that she has experienced more in her 15 years of life than most people have in their lifetime. My husband put the eclipse in the top two things he has witnessed in his life so far, right after the birth of our children. Travel can be hard sometimes, not to mention, expensive. But these moments make it all worth it. And using miles and points certainly took the sting out of eclipse viewing uncertainty. I’m so grateful.

Of course, not everything will be as thrilling as witnessing the solar eclipse, but I don’t want to ever get jaded and take travel for granted. I doubt I’ll ever become an eclipse chaser, though I certainly can see the appeal. It’s a feeling like no other, and it’s hard to put it into words, though I’ve tried.

If you are interested in visiting Spain and don’t mind the summer heat, you may want to add August 12th 2026 to your calendar. You will have an excellent shot at seeing the eclipse based on weather patterns, and I recommend Barcelona as your base (not in the path of totality, but very close). Read my trip report from 2017

Iceland (see my 2022 trip report) will also be in the path of totality, though your chances of avoiding thick clouds will be considerably lower compared to Spain. But hey, meteorologists  didn’t have too much hope for Ohio in April either.

Readers, please, share your solar eclipse stories!