We went to San Antonio to see the total solar eclipse, and we saw it!

We arrived Wednesday for a Monday eclipse, which I was calling that stupid eclipse by Thursday evening. SA was in a frenzy. Our little hotel showed non-stop news in the lobby, 90% about the eclipse. Every programmable highway sign reminded us to Arrive Early, Stay Put, Leave Late or cautioned Solar Eclipse Monday, Delays Possible, while radio traffic predicted hurricane-evacuation-level backups (this did not happen). Weather professionals provided oracular minute-by-minute cloud-cover predictions and analyses for various potential viewing locations, as well as Texan-targeted advice such as Don’t drive while wearing eclipse glasses.

Too snarky? I am a Texan after all.

On the appointed day, clouds were swirling about, but we kept our eyes on the star and saw every phase, including the misty corona and even the glowing “beads” that travel around the ring as totality is ending, though not the “diamond ring.”

Though we did not have a long view of the approaching shadow, we did experience the darkening, the drop in temperature, and the switch from the clamor of bugs to birds as the light disappeared and then returned. It was a little eerie, but not for me at least in any way transformational, as some describe it. My photos of the sun did not come out. One of our party took this viewing shot, which I chose to share since no one in it is taggable.

We were with two other couples, one of them friends of ours from San Jose and the other friends of theirs from Washington state, in the latter’s time-share near Hunt, all lovely people. Although we were not allowed to park there, the resort was a quiet place to watch the sky, with lots of room for everyone. I had tried to get lodging in Kerrville eight months ago when I booked, but hotel prices were already quadrupled by then, so we chose regular-priced lodging in SA–fortunately, since when we arrived in Kerrville, a small and ostentatiously religious town, early on eclipse morning to pay $50 to leave our car in one of numerous lots re-configured to accommodate paid parking, my husband’s immediate response was, What would we have done here all week?

We would not have been able to visit San Fernando Cathedral, for example, which shortly after this picture was taken had a son et lumiere, though we only saw part of that. We did take some peeks of a lovely wedding there during the afternoon, and viewed a mini coffin containing an inexplicable number of heroes of the Alamo.

We also went to SeaWorld, checked out the River Walk, found a good downtown restaurant with live jazz, visited the Japanese gardens, and hung out with our friend Melanie, who convinced me to visit Ripley’s Believe It or Not for the first time in my life. She and I chose the optical illusions tour, and it was surprisingly fun! Below is Jo with her most easily read poker opponents.

Some folks have expressed surprise that a marine biology volunteer would go to SeaWorld, but it has a decent reputation among many m. biologists I have come to know. SeaWorld does a lot of animal rescue and releases, provides good homes for animals that cannot return to the wild, and has forsworn its orca entertainment program, which will be ending as soon as their extant orcas, which can’t be rewilded, expire. Naturally I wanted to see those while I could, plus I was interested in the beluga whales, which UCSC’s own Long Marine Lab is currently studying, albeit at the Georgia Aquarium instead of SeaWorld.

Most important, my husband got to go on one of those terrifying rides he loves, the Great White 360-degree roller coaster. It sped by too fast for me to catch, but here’s a stock photo to give you the idea.