LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Tens of millions of people across the U.S. watched yesterday's solar eclipse. We asked listeners to tell us about the experience.
(SOUNDBITE OF BACON SIZZLING)
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Now, for some, the day started with tailgating. Steve Riden cooked up bacon for his kids as they waited in northern Vermont.
STEVE RIDEN: We're actually in a parking lot of an old mall. There are families around us playing cards. There are kids running around. There's dogs. And there is not a cloud in the sky here in St. Johnsbury, Vermont today.
FADEL: And just before totality, the sky turned gray, the wind died down and people got quiet.
RIDEN: It is remarkable how dark everything is getting right now. It went from a warm, sunny day to now...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my gosh.
(CHEERING)
RIDEN: Oh, my God. Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Look. Take off your glasses.
RIDEN: Whoa (laughter).
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: That looks awesome.
(CHEERING)
RIDEN: I've never seen anything like that.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: This is wild.
RIDEN: This is unbelievable.
MARTÍNEZ: The sound of wonder - now, some made plans far in advance. Will Pedigo and his family got hooked after the eclipse of 2017.
(SOUNDBITE OF SNOW CRUNCHING UNDER FOOTSTEPS)
WILL PEDIGO: We booked a farmhouse in Schuyler Falls, N.Y., almost two years ago. And now I'm standing out in the middle of a field in about six inches of snow...
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRD SQUAWKING)
PEDIGO: ...With crisp, clear, blue skies.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Look, look, the sunset.
PEDIGO: Oh, look. All the way around.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: There's the 360 sunset.
PEDIGO: Sunset everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Oh, wow. All the way.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: There's a 360 sunset.
PEDIGO: Wow. This is unreal. And the stars are out.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I know.
FADEL: Six-year-old Simon Giles from Pittsburgh packed snacks for a road trip.
SIMON GILES: I'm skipping school to drive to Buffalo to watch with my grandparents and uncles.
MARTÍNEZ: Another family, Gina Montana and her daughter Jahia Montana-Forbes, traveled from New Orleans to Terrell, Texas.
GINA MONTANA: It's Jamie Foxx's hometown (laughter). And we have our glasses and our matching T-shirts and matching earrings with little suns on them.
FADEL: And they witnessed their second totality together from a field of wildflowers.
MONTANA: This is so amazing.
JAHIA MONTANA-FORBES: It's amazing and beautiful. You can see the corona. The middle of the sun is completely black.
MONTANA: There's a planet. I don't know if it's Venus or Jupiter. We're citizens of the planet Earth, and we pray for peace - peace of mind, peace throughout the world.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Yeah. Yeah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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