Eclipse brings family, friends together to celebrate in Cape Girardeau

Though only two of them were celestial, several thousands of bodies packed into Cape Girardeau on Monday, April 8, to witness the “Great North American Eclipse”.

Visitors from far and wide traveled to see the sun and moon in perfect alignment for four minutes and seven seconds in a nearly cloudless sky.

Whether at the city’s SportsPlex, inside Houck Field or along the Mississippi River, people from across the country gathered together to celebrate this rare, ethereal occurrence.

Many visitors came to Cape Girardeau for the occasion simply because, of the thousands of miles covered by the path of totality, it was the closest point for them.

Maggie Lindley, front, and her children, Winston, Henry and Jane, drove from Nashville, Tennessee, to Cape Girardeau for the solar eclipse. They wanted to find a spot where they could make memories together as a family.Christopher Borro ~ cborro@semissourian.com

“This was long enough to make it a fun day trip from Nashville, but short enough to make it just a day trip,” Maggie Lindley explained.

Lindley brought her three children from Nashville, Tennessee, to visit the town her mother described as “darling” for the eclipse.

The family was exploring downtown antique shops when they decided to wait on the stepped hill above Spanish Street for totality.

“We just turned around and saw this picturesque spot and I thought it would be a great memory to be sitting right here on these steps,” Lindley added.

The family of Honey Clark (not pictured) had never before seen a solar eclipse, so the Memphis, Tennessee, resident suggested they join her to experience one in Cape Girardeau. Clark had seen the 2017 eclipse in Nashville, Tennessee, and said she was blown away by the experience.Christopher Borro ~ cborro@semissourian.com

Honey Clark came from Tennessee, too, though from Memphis instead of Nashville. She had coincidentally been in Nashville during the 2017 eclipse and decided to show her family the 2024 one.

“It blew me away (in 2017), so I was like, ‘The next time it happened, I have to be there,'” Clark said.

Her parents, sister, niece and niece’s children had not seen an eclipse before, so the family traveled to Riverfront Bridge Park to watch it. Most of them had never been to Cape Girardeau before, but Clark wanted to visit a place where the eclipse would last the longest.

“I scoped out this location. I loved how it was right on the river and thought it was the optimal view,” she said.

The family planned on discovering more of Cape Girardeau once the eclipse was over.

“The city seems to have character. I plan on exploring the downtown once we’re done,” Clark said.

Cody and Emma Roberts traveled from Broomfield, Colorado, for the eclipse. The elder Roberts said he was only a few hours away from totality in 2017 and could not miss the opportunity to see an eclipse again.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com

Cody Roberts traveled from Broomfield, Colorado, to witness the eclipse. It was his daughter Emma’s first time seeing one.

“We could have gotten, like, three hours from home at the last one. And we didn’t. And I was like, ‘Oh, why didn’t we do that?’ And so I wanted to make sure we did something for this one,” he said.

Roberts was originally going to take his family to Arkansas or Texas to view the eclipse but saw there were cloudier conditions there, so he shifted his search northward.

He drove to Cape Girardeau, believing it small enough not to be too crowded but large enough to have fun things to do. The family slept in the back of their vehicle — “car camping,” as Roberts called it.

“It’s making memories, just having fun with the kids and being able to make those childhood memories for them that they’ll have forever,” he said.

Brothers Jerry, left, and Jim Losos drove from Florida and Illinois, respectively, to check out the solar eclipse Monday, April 8. The pair had never seen one in complete totality before, though they had witnessed partial eclipses.Christopher Borro ~ cborro@semissourian.com

Brothers Jerry and Jim Losos journeyed from Ormond Beach, Florida. and Brookfield, Illinois, respectively, meeting up near Cape Girardeau City Hall. They pitched their chairs and beach towels alongside Jerry’s daughter, Erin Sullivan.

Jerry Losos said he wanted to experience the eclipse somewhere that had more to do than just see the eclipse. Cape Girardeau was perfect for that, because he was interested in the geology of the region and the New Madrid Fault.

“I want to experience the awe of it,” he said. “I mean, here we are, the fact that the moon is perfectly in diameter to shade out the sun as it passes directly overhead, its just mindboggling.”

Patty Minser, left, traveled from St. Paul, Minnesota, with her friend Donna Childers to witness the eclipse. They loved the Cape Girardeau area, with Minser describing it as being similar to Minnesota in terms of the friendliness of the residents.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com

Best friends Patty Minser and Donna Childers made the trip from St. Paul, Minnesota, to view their first ever total eclipse.

“This is going to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Minser said. “They kept telling us, my whole family kept telling me, get gas. You’re going to be stuck in lines. You’re going to be stuck in traffic. I didn’t see any.”

The pair said it was special to be seeing the eclipse with a friend and that they had met several very nice people during their time in Cape Girardeau.

“I feel like I’m in Minnesota, just a hot environment,” Minser added.

Not all visitors came from out of state. The Stein family — parents Matt and Kara, grandparents Don and Debbie, and 5-year-old Julian — viewed the eclipse at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus because all the adults are SEMO graduates.

The family hails from Festus, just up Interstate 55.

“It was just a great spot to come, give back to the university, and have an opportunity to have our 5-year-old see this because he loves space, planets and stuff,” Matt Stein said.

Julian was not yet born during the 2017 eclipse, but his parents and grandparents watched it from their home.

As for his thoughts on the eclipse itself, the boy gave not one but two thumbs up.

Reporter Nathan Gladden contributed to this story.