Sitting on a lawn chair in the bed of her 4×4 truck, Kandace Beeler looked through her special eclipse glasses toward the sky.
“This is a rare thing,” she said. “And we have three generations of family here to see it.”
Beeler, surrounded by her mother Susan Ayers and her children Ridge, River and Alexis, was one of many people enjoying the partial solar eclipse outside of the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library on Monday.
As glasses were handed out by staff inside the library, Dalton residents pulled out blankets, chairs and snacks while securing a viewing spot on the lawn or in the adjacent parking lot.
Inside the library, children participated in eclipse-themed arts and crafts activities and enjoyed cosmic-sounding candies and treats such as Starbursts, Moon Pies and Little Debbie Star Crunch cookies.
Just miles down the road, people got a closer look at the phenomenon on the rooftop of The Carpentry, downtown Dalton’s new “boutique”-style hotel that opened earlier this year. The hotel and the Downtown Dalton Development Authority (DDDA) joined together to hold a watch party for residents.
Candace Eaton, executive director of the DDDA, said the hotel was a great choice for viewing the eclipse.
“We’ve had about 20 or so people show up already,” she said as eclipse visibility first began.
The Carpentry’s rooftop patio area is also home to a bar and lounge known as The Twist. There, adults gathered to mingle and share the experience with each other as they witnessed the eclipse.
“It’s really a sight to see,” said Randy Tucker, who sat at a patio table in the hotel’s viewing area with his wife Beth. “And this is the first time we’ve been here at the hotel. It opened up at the perfect time for this.”
Beth Tucker said the magnitude of the experience was not lost on her.
“This isn’t something you see every day,” she said. “The weather is perfect. It’s just a little cloudy but no rain.”
The next total solar eclipse people in Northwest Georgia can partially witness will take place on Aug. 12, 2045.
“I just hope I’m around for the next one,” Randy Tucker said. “But this has been exciting.”