2024 Total Solar Eclipse in Texas
We are so fortunate here in the continental U.S. to have experienced TWO total solar eclipses in the last seven years! My very first total solar eclipse was the one that occurred on August 21, 2017, and passed through central Idaho. That one was easier to plan for and execute because I live in Idaho and it didn’t involve booking flights or hotels. Seeing the eclipse in person was a simply incredible experience; I truly can’t put it into words how breathtaking it is.
After seeing those 2 minutes and 13 seconds of totality near the centerline in Stanley, Idaho, we knew that we were NOT going to miss the 2024 total solar eclipse. (We in this case being Korri and myself, though we saw the 2017 eclipse with his parents and they were down to see the 2024 eclipse with us, too.)
I cannot believe the 2024 total solar eclipse has now come and gone! It was another mind-blowing experience and I’m excited to share all the details in this post to inspire you to see one of the next total solar eclipses (and I do mean TOTAL—partial is not good enough; the difference is literally night and day).
READ NEXT: Totality Awesome: 2017 Total Solar Eclipse in Idaho
2024 Total Solar Eclipse in Texas
Planning Our Trip
When we originally started talking about where we wanted to go for the 2024 total solar eclipse, we were set on going to Mazatlán, Mexico. There were actually rooms available at Pueblo Bonito in Mazatlán (a sister resort to the one we visit in Cabo San Lucas), but we didn’t jump on them because the flight prices were insanely high. Alaska had one round-trip flight option (at the time) listed for $1,200. (We could have potentially flown standby…but that’s risky with an event like this.)
Because Korri and I are meteorologists, we—along with almost every other meteorologist—made alternate plans to see the eclipse in Texas because it was the most likely area along the path to not be cloudy (in the U.S.). About a year or so ago, Korri’s parents booked our hotel in Cedar Park, a suburb just north of Austin. That was all we had planned for a while, and we definitely waited to long to book the other parts of the trip!
Instead of booking the flights to Austin right when they opened (on Southwest), we waited too long, and the flights kept creeping up in price. At the same time, the rental cars were quickly rising in price…they rose to $500/day, and we decided it was probably best to fly into a different airport and drive to Austin.
Traveling to Texas
After lots of deliberation and consideration in which we found that flights to San Antonio and Dallas were almost as expensive as flights to Austin, we opted to fly to Houston Hobby and rent a car from there. Houston is a good three-hour drive from Austin, so it wasn’t ideal, but it was doable. We spent two nights at the hotel in Austin and one night in Houston near the airport before flying out.
We flew into Houston on Sunday, April 7th, and landed in the evening. (Both legs of our trip were booked on Southwest, and I used points for one leg and purchased the second when it was on deep sale. I earned my Companion Pass earlier this year so Korri could fly with me for free!) The shuttle driver to the rental cars was warning us that the wait to get a car was two hours long because of the eclipse. She kept reiterating that it was TWO HOURS long. We got there and no one was in line… it took maybe 10 minutes tops to get our car. Lol.
We ate a quick dinner at Taqueira Del Sol near the airport. It was absolutely packed inside, and the food was delicious! The salsa was spicy, and the gordita I ordered was super yummy. Our waitress couldn’t speak much English, and unfortunately we don’t know Spanish all that well, so there was a bit of a language barrier but we got through it. There’s also a bakery inside that smelled divine; I was so tempted to pick up a bunch of goodies.
We arrived to our hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites Cedar Park North Austin, at around 10:30 pm, made a quick trip to the store for snacks and water, and didn’t fall asleep until just before 1 am with plans to be leaving the hotel the next morning by 6 am. Whew!
The Morning of The Eclipse
We woke up VERY early—only a few hours later—so we could head towards the centerline before everyone else had the same idea. I barely got any sleep; I don’t think my brain ever turned off. I was running through all the scenarios in my head and trying to think of everything I needed to remember to bring along. I was so worried it was going to be too cloudy to see anything.
Of course, the first thing Korri said when he looked outside after waking up was "it’s not looking good” LOL, so that didn’t make me feel better at all. It was completely cloudy at our hotel, but it was also very early in the morning and still dark out. I was hoping once the sun came out that it would burn off the low clouds.
After grabbing an aptly named grab-and-go breakfast at the hotel, we started the drive towards Lampasas, Texas, located right on the centerline. I had also considered Gatesville and Valley Mills; the latter being the farthest north (near Waco). It seemed like we had to go north for the best shot of getting out of the clouds. I also wanted to be in a town near food options and bathrooms and not out in the middle of nowhere.
As we were driving north, it started DRIZZLING. It was so humid out and the low clouds (what was basically a marine layer) started precipitating. When we made it to Lampasas (about a 50 minute drive), we drove around and I pointed out a few spots we could park at. The city of Lampasas had great resources for visitors coming to see the eclipse and I had studied them extensively!
We drove through town, scoping it out, and then stopped at Country Kitchen and Bakery for breakfast. It was delicious! Just the perfect, most traditional diner breakfast. I asked for cinnamon toast instead of regular buttered because it was available as a side on the menu and it seriously hit the spot.
Partial Solar Eclipse
After breakfast, we noticed that some of the clouds had cleared—yippee! The sun was finally out and we stopped by Mojo Coffee for a mocha and lavender chai before driving back to Brooks Park, which is a nice green space straddling Sulfur Creek. Lots of people were already there with their cameras and telescopes set up, and some had even camped there. We were all exhausted after getting no sleep the night before and opted to take a quick nap in the car.
Before the partial eclipse started at 12:18 pm, we opted to walk around the park and attempted to visit a store in town to check out their solar eclipse t-shirts, only they ended up being closed! I thought that was an interesting decision (they wanted to keep their employees off the road unnecessarily, which I get, but they missed the opportunity to make sales when all the tourists were in town!).
On our way, a local passed us and asked us where we were from, and he was surprised to hear we were visiting from Idaho! We talked to him for a bit (I asked him how to pronounce “Lampasas” because I wasn’t sure; turns out I had been pronouncing it wrong) and he insisted that we needed to eat at Storm’s Drive-In before leaving. Apparently it was a favorite of Elvis’s!
We walked back through the other side of the park and over the pedestrian bridge that straddles a manmade waterfall. There’s a Schlotsky’s located near the park (which is a chain restaurant that we learned was founded in Austin), so we stopped in to indulge in Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, and the place filled up with the lunch crowd very quickly! The general manager was working and looked amazed at the number of people in the restaurant. Other employees were going around and asking where everyone was from!
We got back to our spot in the park in time for the partial solar eclipse that started at 12:18 pm. You could see a tiny little bite taken out of the sun! It was a real “OMG, THIS IS HAPPENING” moment, haha. We spent time getting the cameras and phones situated and deciding what we wanted to shoot with each. Locals would periodically pass by and chat with us; they were all so nice and in awe of the number of people visiting their 7,000-person town. There were a few passing low clouds that Korri got nervous about, but I was trying to convince myself that it was going to be fine and all work out.
Partial solar eclipse at 12:41 pm
Partial solar eclipse at 1:05 pm
The sky 14 minutes before totality (unedited)
2 minutes before totality (unedited)
Total Solar Eclipse!
This eclipse experience was slightly different than our experience in Stanley in 2017 because we were surrounded by so many more people and also not up on a remote hillside with a great view of the horizon (and mountains) all around us. We still had the same effects—the weird muted, sepia coloring as the moon’s shadow covered more of the sun, the drop in temperature (and subsequent drop in humidity)—but I didn’t notice what the birds or insects did because I listened to the people around me more than the wildlife!
That photo above is one of the last ones I snapped before totality. It was taken two minutes before the moon fully covered the sun (and wasn’t edited, except for the dumb auto-editing the iPhone does), so you can truly see what 99% looks like. It still looks like daylight. It’s LITERALLY day and night between 99% and 100% coverage! Our sun is one powerful star.
At totality (1:35 pm), unfortunately there was a cloud passing overhead, so we missed the first diamond ring and Baily’s beads. Luckily, the clouds moved quickly and we still got a long time with the corona in view! It’s SO INCREDIBLE!!! I wish I could explain what it looks like adequately. It’s just something you have to see for yourself in person. It’s so hard to do it justice with photos. You can see the full corona! You could see the prominences (a bit)!!! I could SEE the red around the sun with my own eyeballs??? Like what in the world???
I took a few photos and videos with my phone because it’s hard not to (even though they didn’t really turn out), but I definitely also spent time just staring at the sky in awe (and listening to everyone else around me also in awe). I pointed my regular camera at the horizon to take a time lapse, but Korri also took a time lapse with his phone and I think his turned out better, lol. I didn’t want to mess with my camera settings during totality and miss out on seeing it!
Totality lasted for around 4 minutes and 26 seconds where we were in Lampasas, which was twice as long as what we experienced in Stanley in 2017, and it still went by so quickly! It’s one moment I wish I could rewind and replay over and over again. Once you see one total solar eclipse, you understand why people chase them. They are truly breathtaking and unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
We were lucky to catch the backend of Baily’s beads and the diamond ring, and Korri got Baily’s beads with his camera. I’d love to get a diamond ring photo someday! That’s just means we need to go to more. And I need to figure out how the heck people capture that moment with a camera!
Total solar eclipse from Lampasas, Texas
Clouds during totality; planet in top right
In my happy feels 6 minutes after totality
Partial Solar Eclipse after Totality
Immediately after totality ended at nearly 1:40 pm, the sky lightened up again, and people started packing up and clearing out of the park pretty quickly. We decided to stay where we were and wait until after the partial eclipse ended to hopefully avoid traffic. It seemed like traffic moved pretty steadily through town, and I’m not sure it really got that backed up heading back to Austin. At the time, my cell service didn’t work so I couldn’t look anything up online (like the traffic) or see what others were posting about the eclipse on social media.
We kept peeking at the sun throughout the second partial eclipse to watch the moon’s progress and imagined people east of us squealing in delight at seeing totality over them. It’s crazy how quickly the moon’s shadow moves! We also spent time looking at the incredible photos Korri captured with his new camera (he shared some of them in the tweet above) and looking through videos. The low clouds that were over Lampasas during the eclipse all disappeared for a short time! It’s crazy that that small reduction in solar energy killed the clouds.
The partial solar eclipse in Lampasas ended at 2:58 pm, and shortly after, the sky completely clouded up, just as the NWS had predicted would happen. We were in “slight risk” for severe weather that was supposed to kick off in the afternoon. The hope was to get back to our hotel before the storms really got going but we really weren’t sure how bad traffic was going back.
After the Eclipse
We left the park just after 3 pm, which in hindsight maybe wasn’t the best idea ever because it seems like a ton of other people also waited until after the partial was over before leaving their spots around town.
As was recommended to us, we went straight to Storm’s Drive-In for burgers! It was completely packed, so everyone else had the exact same idea. There are a bunch of traditional curbside spaces where you pull in up in your car next to the order screen, and there’s also an outdoor (but covered) sitting area where you can order and eat. There were no spots in the curbside area when we got there and ate on the covered picnic tables.
Storm’s has been a Texas staple since 1950 and was actually one of Elvis’s favorite spots! I can see why; my cheeseburger was delicious, as were the fries. I also got a frozen Coke, which I imagined would be more like how McDonald’s does frozen Cokes, but it actually seemed more like a vanilla shake with Coke mixed in?! It was thick and so yummy! I’ve already craved a Storm’s burger since being back home, haha.
After we ate, we left Lampasas and headed back to the hotel, and it luckily didn’t take too long getting back. I was so worried we’d be stuck in traffic for hours after hearing horror stories from 2017! I really wonder how many people either stayed where they were (because they didn’t care about being on the centerline) or canceled their trip to the Austin area altogether when they saw the weather forecast? There were still a number of people in Lampasas all things considered!
Storms were already popping on our drive back, but luckily we avoided any hail and only drove through some rainy spots. Whew! We spent a chill evening in the hotel and got to bed early that night.
The rest of our trip
The next morning, extremely loud thunder woke us up very early, and then by the time our alarms went off there was also a tornado warning nearby. Lol! The risk of severe weather was actually higher on Tuesday than Monday. We checked out of our hotel in Cedar Park and drove through Austin (UT campus, Texas State Capitol, downtown) before starting the drive back to Houston.
Since we had Mexican the first night of our trip, my plan was to get Texas BBQ on Tuesday. Unfortunately, we struck out at both BBQ places we tried to eat at in Austin! We first stood in the very long line at Franklin BBQ only to be told by an employee that they were out of food (less than an hour and a half after they opened; luckily they came outside to tell us). We then drove to Terry Black’s BBQ and the line was too long. We had to unfortunately start the drive back to Houston and couldn’t wait. Rookie mistake!!!
On our drive back, we stopped at Buc-ee’s, which is just a giant, grocery-store sized convenience store. They are well known for their huge, clean bathrooms, beef jerky, fudge, and freshly-smoked-on-site brisket. We picked up some goodies for the trip back to Houston, which took way longer than we anticipated due to traffic (we drove through Houston at rush hour…bad idea, lol). We missed the car drop-off time and were dangerously close to being charged extra. Eeep!
We stayed that final night in Houston near the airport and then headed out the next morning relatively uneventfully! (After being woken up by a huge storm again, ha.) Luckily, there were no issues getting out of the Houston Hobby airport, and some of the passengers on our flight had also seen the eclipse. All in all, it was an excellent trip and I’m glad we put forth so much effort for such an incredible celestial experience! 🤩 I’m already planning where to go for 2026 and 2033!
READ NEXT: Totality Awesome: 2017 Total Solar Eclipse in Idaho