Instead of 300,000 spectators, as multiple officials projected, Bloomington saw tens of thousands, according to early estimates. And while the smaller-than-expected crowds enabled the city to escape snarled traffic, the overestimates also kept some Bloomington residents from leaving their homes and attending the local events, from Switchyard Park to Memorial Stadium.
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IU spokesman Mark Bode said the university hosted “tens of thousands of visitors and students across at least seven separate events,” including “nearly 10,000” at Memorial Stadium.
(The maximum capacity of the stadium is over 50,000.)
While between 50,000 and 100,000 eclipse viewers were expected in Nashville and Brown County, an estimated 20,000 showed up.
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Jiffy Treet in Ellettsville, the epicenter of the total solar eclipse in Indiana, had a big day. More than 50 people watched the eclipse from a grassy field adjacent to the Ind. 46 ice cream shop.
Incidentally, the parking by Jiffy Treet was charging $50 per car, so that’s not exactly shocking.
The eclipse was on a Monday. Most kids not near the path of totality had school. Why they thought so many thousands were coming is beyond me. This should have been easily predicted.
And yet in normal circumstances, no one in their right mind would go there either.
Kentucky has bourbon and fried chicken and culture. Indiana… has Mike Pence.
You can get bourbon and fried chicken in Indiana. Also, in terms of names, Indiana has Kurt Vonnegut, The Jackson Five, Axl Rose, Jim Gaffigan and James Dean, just to name a few.
My brother went to school with Meg Cabot and Joshua Bell. I went to school with Sara Caswell.
Even now, John Green still lives here, John Mellencamp still lives here, Jim Davis still lives here.
I don’t love living in Indiana for many reasons, but to pretend the only thing to come out of Indiana is Mike Pence is silly. Whatever you think of any of the people I’ve named, you have to admit they have contributed to our culture in major ways.
Found Mike Pence’s account.
(J/k, all the Hoosiers I have met have been super nice, I was just playing up the meme)