A picky eater with lots of allergies and her husband visit Zekes Bar & Grill.

Totality Excited

I’m not usually paying attention…to anything, really. But when my son mentioned that he might fly to Dallas to get a glimpse of a total eclipse my ears perked up. I looked over at my husband, Dan, and said, “Let’s go! We have nothing else to do!” 

He looked back at me with raised eyebrows. “Well, some of us have to work.” 

“Oh yeah. I actually have to teach a class on Monday so I guess we can’t go.” 

I pouted and bowed my head. My son piped up noting that there were other places in the country to view the eclipse. Like right here in my home state. So yay! I was going to see an eclipse. But just partially, about ninety-three percent, because the path of totality was several hours north of us. But then I looked at my calendar and I practically leapt from my couch cushion. I did not have class that Monday – I was on school vacation! 

“Take the day off!” I quietly suggested, or loudly demanded depending on who you ask.

Dan agreed and we both kept our eyes peeled on the weather forecast every day for a month.

Totality or Bust

The day arrived and the sky was clear. We began our trek at seven in the morning and drove in bumper to bumper traffic to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Neither of us enjoy crowds so we stayed away from the downtown party and got comfy in a grocery store parking lot. We parked alongside all the other out-of-staters, several in lawn chairs with hibachis grilling hot dogs and eating popcorn.  It was actually perfect. We reclined our seats, opened the sunroof shade, and donned our glasses. Just before the show started, we meandered through the grocery store, buying a few slices of deli meat, a couple rolls, and some movie theater candy.

Intoxicated on Moonshine

While the grocery store stocked alcohol, we did not partake. Instead, when the moon covered ninety percent of the sun, we emerged from the car. Craning our necks, we waited with baited breath as the moon slowly inched over the last morsel of sunshine. The sky darkened, the wind blew, and the grass turned an odd shade of green. Safe to remove our glasses, the crowd in the parking lot stood in silence. Suddenly, a group broke out in song, people cheered and clapped. But we stood. Fixated on the spectacle in the sky. There were no words. Amazing, magnificent, awesome – these words are not enough. For two minutes we got to witness something akin to a spiritual or mystic event. And we will never forget it.

Let There Be Light

Once the moon began to shift, uncovering just enough of the sun that we needed to don our special glasses again, we high-tailed it out of there. Vermont has a population of barely 650,000 people and they were expecting an influx of over 160,000 more to travel into the state to view the eclipse. We wanted to be home before midnight. Luckily, our grocery store viewing site was right off the highway. So we fastened our seat belts and hit the road.

Deep in the Forest

We drove without traffic or incident straight into Massachusetts. We entered a town that included buildings other than barns and I quickly pulled up Google on my phone to search for restaurants. Zeke’s Bar and Grill popped up first. I checked the menu to verify a burger could be had and then plugged the address into Dan’s GPS. A sharp turn to the left and onto a narrow road dense with trees. I started to feel a little uneasy and I think Dan did too. I mean we just witnessed a solar eclipse and who knows what ghouls were summoned? Werewolves maybe? Another turn took us through a giant wrought iron gate and my thoughts quickly turned to vampires. Finally, the trees gave way to lush green low cut grass and a dozen or so golf carts parked just beyond. I sighed as we passed the sign for Crumpin-Fox Club and Zeke’s Bar and Grill.

Not Out of the Woods Yet

We parked and approached the clubhouse. An intimidating creature stood waiting for us on the wraparound porch. Our legs tired from sitting all day, we ambled up the steps and I wandered over the large wooden fox and gave it a hug. I was ready for a good meal. The log cabin designed club had high vaulted ceilings and a beautiful stone fireplace. A small bar stood at the entry and the waitress did double duty tending bar and taking orders. Zeke’s proved to be a very cozy golfers retreat.

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Dan – The Push

Lis – The Push

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