Into Every Sun, a Little Shade Must Fall
Posted by Darren Drevik on Apr 5, 2023 in Letters from Vermont | 0 comments
A lot of interesting things have happened here at the Phineas Swann. We’ve had Nobel-prize winning economists visit. We’ve had a pathfinding leader in the fight for LGBT rights perform a wedding in our fireplace room. We’ve hosted countless auctions, events, weddings, memorials, vow renewals, and memorable family moments.
About a year from now, on Monday, April 8 at 3:26 p.m., we’ll have the type of historic event that won’t happen again here until July 22, 2381. And after that, not until June 9, 2699.
On April 8 next year, we’ll be directly in the path of a total solar eclipse that will slash its way across the center of the country from Texas to Maine. And the event here will be amazing – a full 3 minutes and 32 seconds of totality, which doesn’t sound like much, but is one of the longest blackouts you can see.
Total Eclipses Are Different
My brother had a front-row seat for the last total eclipse from near his home in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2017. He says if you’ve seen a partial eclipse, you really haven’t had the amazing experience a total eclipse offers. He describes the quiet as the sun is blotted from the sky, feeling the outside temperate drop 20 degrees in a minute, and the birds and other animals flying around, confused that the sun has set “early.”
We’re excited the show is coming to us.
Rooms Open For Advance Booking Saturday
A word about rooms: We’ve only got 11 rooms in the inn, so we know we’re going to sell out almost immediately. We offer booking up to a year in advance, which means bookings for Eclipse Day start Saturday morning. We’ve noticed that many of the private rentals in our area are charging from $1,423 to $2,640 a night for those dates! We, in good conscience, just can’t do that.
We’ve set a 3-night minimum for the event (and we’re planning some pretty cool Eclipse-related events). We did set our rates at our highest-season rates, the kind you’d see during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, but that’s it. Lynne and I really couldn’t sleep charging people two grand a night to see nature’s show of the century.
We hope you’ll be one of the lucky ones who get to come. Weather permitting, it’s going to be a heck of a show.
