Locals share their favorite places to eat and explore in these cities of totality
A brief blanket of darkness will cover the skies and street lamps will burn midday, as a total solar eclipse stretches across North America on April 8. The phenomenon occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth, causing, for a matter of minutes, a full block of the sun.
Since the next full solar eclipse isn’t predicted to be visible from the contiguous United States again for 20 years, this year’s experience tops many travelers’ list. In fact, up to 3.7 million people are predicted to travel from outside to inside the path of totality come April. Some were booking more than a year in advance.
NASA has outlined 13 cities that fall within the path of totality and make for some of the event’s best vantage points, including Dallas, Little Rock, Buffalo, and Burlington, Vt. We tapped locals in some of these cities for some of their best recommendations on what to eat, see and do in their hometowns once the sun reemerges.
Denyjah Simpson, 11, enjoys the sunset and plays along the river near the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science in Evansville, Ind. The upcoming eclipse’s path of totality will cross over Evansville on April 8. (Photos by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
Dallas
Totality: 1:40 to 1:44 p.m. Central time
With one of the longest durations along the path of totality in the United States, Dallas will be packed with visitors. Organizations throughout the city will host viewing parties and events, including the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, which has invited over 20 astronomers for an event full of science activities, food and music, plus chances to explore the museum’s interactive stargazing experiences.
The Dallas Arboretum has partnered with retired NASA astronaut Alvin Drew for its party, and the Frontiers of Flight Museum, with an unobstructed location near Love Field, is hosting a family-friendly viewing event. Totality Dallas is a three-day festival hosted at Samuell Farm in Mesquite, Tex., just east of Dallas.
Tanner Agar, owner of Rye and Apothecary restaurants, moved to Dallas in 2011 to attend Texas Christian University and after spending time abroad, he returned to the city to get into the restaurant business. “I thought it was a great place to make a name for myself as a chef and restaurateur,” he said in an email. Just before the eclipse, Agar plans to launch an Alice in Wonderland menu at Apothecary, a cocktail bar known for its creative concoctions. “If you’ve traveled to see the eclipse, you’re clearly looking to be surprised and delighted,” he said.
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The full and original version of this story appeared in The Washington Post on March 25, 2024.
