BURLINGTON — Jeff Schell, 54, a professor at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, drove north on Sunday from Cape Cod to see the eclipse.
The closest lodging he’d found was a hotel room in Lake George, New York — roughly an hour and a half away from Burlington. “I couldn’t even find a campground,” he said.
But by Monday around 10:30 a.m., he’d secured a prime lakefront spot at Burlington’s Oakledge Park for his folding chair and tripod. He’d come equipped with snacks, a mug of coffee, a camera and a special filter so he could shoot photos of the sun for the first time.
For Schell, who teaches oceanography, the eclipse would be something of a shift in perspective.
“I usually study looking down,” he said, gesturing at the waters of Lake Champlain. “So this (will) be the first time I kind of focus on looking up.”
