BURLINGTON — It’s hard to imagine better eclipse-viewing conditions than those in Vermont’s Queen City on Monday afternoon.
As of 2 p.m. — roughly 15 minutes before the eclipse began — the much-feared cloud cover had not materialized and Burlington’s sky was a nearly perfect blue. Some high, wispy clouds barely dimmed the bright sunshine and temperatures pushed 60 degrees.
And people had turned out for the spectacle in droves. Burlington, normally a city of roughly 45,000, swelled with an influx of thousands of visitors.
Pedestrians thronged sidewalks and closed-off streets. Parks and open spaces were crowded with people napping and lounging in camping chairs and on picnic blankets. Foot and bike traffic on the city’s bike path, which runs the length of its waterfront, seemed to reach an unprecedented volume.
Throughout the city’s downtown, speakers played music and picnic tables were crowded. Lines for food trucks and porta-potties were lengthy, cellphone data seemed sluggish, and spirits appeared to be uniformly high.
