Greetings, my fellow port swillers!
As promised, Ol’ Robbo made himself bring along his laptop on his current biznay trip, and so I am now posting for the very first time here from the comfort of my hotel room.
Ain’t technology wunnerful.
We were chatting with the clerk while we checked in this afternoon. Without completely giving away my location, this town is right in the bulls-eye for the big solar eclipse that will move across the United States next month.
The usual rate for this place is $91 per night.
Know what they’re charging for that week?
$1100 per night. And they’re booked solid.
So is everyone else.
Apparently, a lot of locals are also renting out their houses for the event – and charging similarly primo, not to say, ridiculous rates.
The other clerk told us that somebody even called him seven years ago to see if they could book a room that far in advance so as to catch the festivities. (The answer was no, apparently.)
Who knew a total eclipse was such a thing?
(Apparently, we’ll get about a 75% eclipse in the Port Swiller Manor neighborhood. That’s plenty for me.)
The Port Stands At Your Elbow 
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July 18, 2017 at 7:15 pm
captainned
And for the April 2024 eclipse (they come in pairs 7 years apart), the center of the path of totality runs but 15 miles north of the house and smack over my old YMCA camp. I’ve already suggested to the camp director that if that year’s winter isn’t too ugly, there would be a “fundraising opportunity”.
July 20, 2017 at 12:08 am
Robbo
Ya’ know, that’s no joke. I hear tell that campgrounds and whatnot under the path are selling out like gangbusters. Keep up the suggestions – and make sure you get a commission, too.
July 21, 2017 at 10:03 am
captainned
I’ll gladly forego the commission. Most of who I am today came from that camp and its staff, so it’s time to repay.. I’m just hoping that camp will be open so that I can witness that eclipse flat on my back in a very large field with no obstructions to vision.
There was a partial eclipse in the early ’90s that had been hyped to the point that the local classic rock FM station played “Dark Side” straight through the eclipse period. Since I was a banker at the time I had stacks of legal pads littering my desk. I ripped two backers from their paper, poked a small hole in one, and proceeded to astound my then coworkers who followed me to the parking lot with a simple exposition of the principles of a camera obscura and showing them the image of the Moon scudding over the face of the Sun. They thought me a wizard when all I had was two pieces of cardboard and one hole.