Location: Pikeville, TN, USA

My father and I drove up from Mossey Head, FL, USA to Pikeville, choosing a random church parking lot with a good view and little to no artificial light. We waited for the pastor to wake and spoke with him, asking permission to stay before setting up our equipment. Not only did he say yes, but he also unlocked the building so that we could seek air conditioning and use the restroom facilities. We planted the seed, as soon after finishing our set up another car pulled up, and then another, and another. I think the amount of donations to the church totaled several hundred dollars.

In the late morning, clouds started forming. A couple minutes before totality we had all accepted the fate of watching it through heavy cloud cover. I think the pastor called in a special favor as, less than a minute before totality, the clouds parted for the entire two and a half minutes. Just as before the totality, the clouds closed up just seconds afterwards. I don't think anyone would believe just how close to not seeing it we were, unless they were there.