INDIANAPOLIS — Eclipse visitors are now making the trek home after witnessing a magical dance between the sun and the moon on Monday.
The rare celestial event brought together millions across the country, allowing everyone to pause and look up for a few minutes.
No matter where you were or how you watched, everyone agreed the experience exceeded expectations.
“It’s indescribable because it was so long that I actually had time to take pictures and look around and actually enjoy it,” said Javier Calderon, who traveled to Franklin from Ohio.
The city of Franklin said the eclipse brought thousands of new visitors to town.
“We had as many people stop in our visitor center in three days that we would normally have in about six months,” said Ken Kosky, the executive director for Festival Country Indiana.
Kosky said statistics are not final yet, but he predicts economic impact numbers for Johnson County to be in the millions of dollars.
The visitor center saw about 2,300 people over the weekend, with people coming from six nations and more than half the states.
Kosky said what helped avoid congestion was spreading out events.
“We spread people out across 50 different sites, and we let those hosts know to let people know, don’t all leave at the same time. As a result, we didn’t hear any issues of traffic getting out of the Johnson County area,” Kosky said.
In Indianapolis, early predictions show more than 125,000 visitors came to the city, which is more than expected.
“Yesterday was a massive success for the city of Indianapolis. We welcomed visitors from all 50 states and 33 countries, so that, paired with the weather, just made for a perfect day to experience totality in the Circle City,” said Clare Clark, with Visit Indy.
Clark said there was also a “virtual sellout” of hotels on Sunday and very limited availability on Monday.
At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, officials estimate more than 50,000 guests attended the greatest show in the sky. More than 80% of the guests were first-time visitors to the Racing Capital of the World.
The eclipse also brought thousands of people together on the roads. Indiana State Police said messaging and advanced planning helped limit traffic jams.
“We put a lot of time and effort into planning how this would go and, to be honest, it went better than we could’ve ever imagined,” ISP Sgt. John Perrine said.
The biggest backups were seen in the north and south parts of the state, especially on Interstate 65.
“Locally here in Indianapolis, it was nothing more than a normal rush hour. Throughout the entire day, we had minimal traffic and issues. The far north and the far south parts of our state did see some traffic congestion, but no serious crashes,” Perrine said.
State parks were also full of eclipse chasers. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, seven properties reached capacity for day-use parking, and 10 properties were between 70% and 90% parking capacity.
Campgrounds, cabins and four inns within the zone of totality were also full.
Hoosiers and visitors said the eclipse gave them memories that will last a lifetime.
“There are no words for that. I literally still want to cry,” said one eclipse viewer at Butler’s Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium. “Once in a lifetime. I’m so glad we saw this.”