So you have a severe case of FOMO after seeing photos from the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse. Or maybe you want to experience it again.
The next great solar eclipse will fan out across America on April 8, 2024 — and it's once again in our global neighborhood. Totality will hit western Kentucky and Southern Indiana.
You can't book a hotel for another several years, but you can start weighing your options.
Bloomington
Bloomington, Indiana, is only about 100 miles from Louisville. The city is "super freaking excited," said Erin White, director of leisure, marketing and media for the city.
"It's a really big deal for the city of Bloomington," White said. She said the city will model its plans after those of their sister city, Columbia, Missouri, which was in the path of totality this year. Columbia, she said, hosted a music festival and events at the University of Missouri, which they'll attempt to reproduce at Indiana University.
So keep Bloomington in mind if you want to study science.
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Paducah
Paducah, Kentucky, is another good option at about 215 miles from Louisville. It has got eclipse viewing down pat after being in Monday's path of totality. Check out this city if you have an artistic bent.
"We are a [UNESCO] Creative City so we've got down the art of celebrating an eclipse," said Laura Oswald, director of marketing for the city of Paducah. "Our locals will be happy to roll out the red carpet."
Here's a look at this year's events:
- Fiber art: The city's National Quilt Museum showed off one of the world's most famous quilts, the Corona II: Solar Eclipse.
- The art of food: Dry Ground Brewing Co. hosted a party with its eclipse-themed Umbra coffee milk stout.
- The art of learning: Kentucky's only astronaut, Terry Wilcutt, was on hand Monday at the city's Challenger Learning Center.
Indianapolis
If you want a bit of everything, head north to Indianapolis at about 115 miles away. It's in the path of totality and is the place to be if you're equally interested in human nature and science — you can watch the eclipse with thousands of others downtown.
The only bad thing about looking ahead to 2024 is that hotels operators are bound by software that only allows them to take reservations a little over a year out from an event, White said.
"It's not going to happen," White said. It's based on the hotel chain, but most software allows for booking only 12-18 months from a date.
So make sure you set a calendar reminder for your future self!
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Take a flight
If you've got cash to spend, keep on the lookout for special eclipse-viewing flights that take you above the clouds.
Alaska Airlines employees were still basking in the astronomical afterglow of the "spectacular" eclipse-viewing flight it painstakingly planned — down to the very second and the 30-degree angle of the plane over the Pacific Ocean.
But you'll have to look over the next few years to see if they'll offer a similar flight in 2024.
"It's been about 24 hours since we departed yesterday's flight and we're all bewildered about what we saw," said Bobbie Egan, a spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines. "We've certainly got the astronomy bug but we won't schedule anything this far out."
Want to take a major road trip?
Other major cities in the path of the 2024 total solar eclipse include Dallas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Cleveland; and Buffalo, New York.
Taylor Riley can be reached at and Sarah Riley can be reached at .
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