CLEVELAND — Avon Lake was named the best place to watch the total solar eclipse in northeast Ohio by the Burrell Observatory at Baldwin Wallace University.

What You Need To Know

  • Avon Lake High School hosted an eclipse watch party 

  • Avon Lake witnessed totality for almost four minutes 

  • Many children got a real-life learning experience 

Hundreds of people spent the day at Avon Lake High School’s stadium watching the eclipse and witnessing full totality.

Many young students had the day off school and instead spent it with their families watching the eclipse. It is something Mike Callahan and his children, Zoey and Noah, were excited about.

Callahan made sure his kids viewed the eclipse safely.

“We told them that they have to wear the glasses, except you know, during the four minutes,” Callahan said.

Some people, including Melissa Blanco and her twin sons Beckett and Bishop, traveled from far away. They came from Virginia to see the eclipse. 

“It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it’s super cool to experience,” said Blanco. “They might not really appreciate it much now other than it just being cool to look at, but looking back they’ll really appreciate it.”

Jen Valencic and her two daughters have been discussing the eclipse at home and learning about it at school. 

“We got glasses, we talked all about the eclipse. What happens when the eclipse is totality? It gets dark. We keep the glasses on or we take them off? On, until totality,” Valencic said.

During totality, there was a significant temperature drop and everyone was in awe looking at the eclipse in the darkness. Hadas Kuznits and her family drove nine hours from Philadelphia.

“It was totally worth it,” Kuznits said. “The nine-hour drive for four minutes, because there’s a difference between 90% and 100% that was unbelievable. I’m gonna cry. It was like a spiritual experience. It was amazing! It was like nighttime and now sunrise.”