POPLAR BLUFF, Missouri — It was not beyond a shadow of a doubt that the weather would be perfect for Monday’s eclipse. But a last-minute decision by Glenn Stokes of Columbus, put him and his family in the best spot to stand in the shadow of the Moon for more than four minutes.
Just minutes after totality was over, Stokes said “We were planning originally on going to Texas, making it like a weeklong trip. Last minute decided ‘Ah, we don’t want to do that.’ So, I took the path of totality ... right angle, where was the closest point to Columbus and turns out it was” ... “POPLAR BLUFF” the family screams almost in unison.
My brother, Richard, and I also made last minute plans to be in Poplar Bluff. After a year of holding reservations for a hotel in Paducah, Kentucky, I found what seemed to be the last hotel room in the city. The town of 17,000 expected nearly 40,000 people to attend a weekend of festivities for the “Total Eclipse of the Bluff”
I found Stokes, along with his wife Laura, their daughter Katie Huggins, son-in-law Matt Huggins and grandson Tommy, as I wandered the parking lot looking for Georgia license plates.
Stokes said, “My father never would have considered throwing the four boys in the car and driving eight hours, let alone pay for a hotel.”
Credit: Charles Minshew
Credit: Charles Minshew
And hotels in town weren’t cheap. In the days leading up to the eclipse, rooms that would typically go for $150 per night were being sold for nearly $1,000. Just to be clear, I used points.
For Glenn and Laura, it was their first total solar eclipse. It was also 3-year-old Tommy’s first, but he wasn’t around yet when his parents Matt and Katie traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, in August 2017, for what many people might consider a once-in-a-lifetime event.
“We knew we had to try to go to the next one. It’s such an unreal experience,” Matt said.
For me, it was also a twice-in-a-lifetime event, having watched the 2017 eclipse with my brother when I lived in Columbia, Missouri. Missouri is just one of a handful of states where totality could be witnessed in both 2017 and 2024.
At 1:56 p.m. on April 8, 2024, darkness instantly fell upon the town.
Apps on cell phones alerted people to remove their glasses, ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ could be heard across Highway 67 at Poplar Bluff High School where hundreds had gathered for the event. But closer by, Katie Huggins let out a scream.
Totality had arrived.
“There’s a validation because I’ve been yelling at them for seven years,” Katie Huggins said after totality had passed. “I don’t have the words for how cool it is but I need you to see it. So now they’ve seen it!”
The family hopes that they’ll have a thrice-in-a-lifetime experience in 2044 when the United States experiences its next total solar eclipse.
It won’t be quite an easy drive though as totality will be visible in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
But, for then-23-year-old Tommy Huggins, maybe that trip won’t be so bad.
He’s got plenty of time to plan.
