A divided America comes together for a moment that won’t return for 20 years

Greenville, Maine: It’s 3.30pm in Maine and the moon has slowly materialised and nestled across the orb of the sun, plunging the lakeside town around me into complete darkness.

For almost four minutes there’s nothing but ethereal serenity: the air temperature drops, the wind seems to slow, and all I can see in the distance is the black silhouette of the moon surrounded by the pearly glow of the sun’s corona.

This was the first total eclipse I had seen and it was as awe-inspiring as I had hoped – and well worth my two-day journey to totality: where the moon fully obscures the sun.

It was also North America’s busiest eclipse ever: hundreds of millions of people live in or near the shadow’s path, while countless visitors travelled across the country to witness this breathtaking phenomenon.

Like many Americans, I was overcome by solar mania searching for the best vantage point in the lead up to the event: spending days poring over weather patterns, studying potential road closures, freaking out about the cost of flights and accommodation.

One room at a Super 8 budget hotel in Illinois had suddenly increased from $US95 ($145) to $US950. A return flight from Washington DC to Little Rock in Arkansas had skyrocketed to more than $US1000.

Farrah Tomazin preparing to view the solar eclipse in Greenville, Maine.Credit:

Almost every Airbnb in the path of totality was taken. The accommodation rental service recorded a 1000 per cent increase in reservations, while some opportunistic homeowners listed rooms for a hefty price tag.

For the many eclipse chasers chasing totality – some of whom had come as far as China, Germany or the UK – the effort and obsession was part of the adventure.

Philadelphia resident Ted Merriman travelled to Greenville, Maine for the eclipse.Credit:

After all, the last time the US had a solar eclipse was in 2017 – when then president Donald Trump famously stared into the sky without any protective eyewear. The next eclipse on the continent won’t take place for another 20 years.

This eclipse also promised to be better than the last, firstly because the path of totality was more than 100 miles wide and spanned across parts of 15 different US states; secondly, because those under it had up to four minutes of viewing time – almost double the amount in 2017.

Philadelphia resident Ted Merriman could barely contain his excitement.

“I had flights and accommodation booked for Austin, Texas, then we cancelled when I discovered the weather was not going to co-operate,” he told me.

“So I had back-up plans for upstate New York, Vermont and Maine – and we finally decided on Maine.”

Mine was a similar journey: after scrapping plans to hire a car and drive from DC to Buffalo in New York, a friend and I decided instead to fly to Boston and then drive to Burlington in Vermont, which was initially billed as the place to be – particularly for those of us on the US east coast.

A last-minute cloudy weather forecast forced us to pivot, and we instead decided to make the 4½-hour drive from Manchester, New Hampshire - starting at 5am to beat the traffic - to the town of Greenville in Maine: a tiny village of about 1400 people near the Canadian border.

We couldn’t have asked for a better spot filled with clearer skies and like-minded eclipse chasers, most of whom had gathered around Moosehead Lake in the centre of town: families with excited children; budding astrophotographers with high-tech cameras; men and women wearing tin foil hats.

By 2.07pm (EST) totality reached North America, starting in Mexico before making its celestial dash from Texas, through cities such as Cleveland, Indianapolis and Montreal.

And at 3.30pm, the total eclipse hit Greenville and the crowd erupted into cheers and tears before a muted twilight took over.

As the sun, moon and earth became perfectly aligned, I ripped off my solar eclipse glasses and stared at the incredible sight before me: the day turning into night; the misplaced shadows and light; the wonderment of the planet.

And for a few breathtaking moments, millions of strangers were connected under a big sky – and an often divided nation suddenly felt united.

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