A worker at Ace Hardware fans out eclipse glasses that the store offers for sale on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017, in Spring City, Tenn. On August 21, thousands are expected to flock to the small Rhea County town, which is home to about 2000 residents, to view the solar eclipse.Ready or not, here they come.
In just eight days, as many as 1.4 million visitors could descend on the Volunteer State to see the total eclipse.
For 55.2 million Americans, Tennessee is the closest place to see the 70-mile-wide path of totality that will sweep across the U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina, according to GreatAmericanEclipse.com.
The event is a windfall for sold-out motels, campgrounds and other tourist-oriented businesses in the eclipse’s path.
Scores of Tennessee communities, including Spring City, Sweetwater and Athens, have geared up for the onslaught and have festivities and activities planned. As does Nashville, which will spend one minute and 55 seconds in the path of totality. It will be the largest U.S. city to see the moon blot out the sun, except for the sun’s fiery corona.