Total Eclipse: 21 August 2017

Lexington, SC

The Grape Eclipse at the Mercer Winery (http://www.mercerwine.com/) in Lexington, SC was the perfect venue to experience this celestial phenomenon.  We arrived by car, parked in a field across the street from the winery, and upon entry were given a wrist band for our VIP tickets.  The staff was amazingly down-home and friendly.

The VIP treatment included a tent with fan to keep the no-see-ums off, although they still got in a few bites. We also received free wine and water all day, as well as two bottles and two commemorative glasses to go.

The food truck provided sandwiches, but nothing vegetarian or vegan to speak of. I heard the food was good.  A bandstand was erected and there were three different bands that played.  It was really cute when they played “Ring of Fire” right before the total eclipse.  And then after, they played “Here Comes the Sun”.

As soon as the eclipse began, I realized I was woefully unprepared to take photos of this event.  But I persevered with the equipment I had, which was a taped-on lens from one of the eclipse glasses and a portable 3” tripod. A very nice women allowed me to use her real tripod and I got a couple of shots that way.

Although the traffic to get back home was horrendous, it was all truly worth it.

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