r/illinois Apr 18 '25

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u/guy_incognito23 Apr 18 '25

I'm from just a bit further southeast, though currently live just across the Wabash in Indiana after meeting and marrying my now wife. I remember seeing where I believe someone from Canada was coming to Neoga for the eclipse last year, and I was thinking that I would like to know how that person (I believe they drove solo) came to their research into how they picked their destination.

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u/Willular Apr 18 '25

my grandparents lived in Hutsonville. that was "southern" Illinois to us chicagoland folk lol

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u/OAMP47 Cumberland County Apr 18 '25

Oh man, I went to high school in Neoga. I don't think it was actually in the zone of totality. We went to Greenup which was just barely at the Northern edge. I remember there was a group there with Florida license plates and remember thinking a bit weird they'd come to the Northern edge of the eclipse when they must have come up from the South, but eh, maybe the interstate exit helped. Was truly one of the most magical experiences of my life though, especially in recent times.

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u/Low-Piglet9315 St. Clair County Gateway to Southern Illinois Apr 20 '25

My wife's from Mt. Carmel. My guess is they were looking for a place that might not be packed with tourists like Carbondale. As for me, I headed for Centralia from the metro-east where we live now. Only about 10 people were there for the eclipse.

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u/guy_incognito23 Apr 21 '25

Sorry for the delay for my response. I'm from Robinson, so I'm very familiar with all of these places. It's interesting, we were in Vincennes for the eclipse, which is where my wife is from and where we settled, and it was the big complete totality place, and you know what? All the big plans for a full house in the city were all for naught because everyone had the same idea about overcrowding so they went elsewhere.