ERIE, Pa. — Everywhere you look in downtown Erie, there are signs of the upcoming solar eclipse.
Erie is in the path of totality, which is the area where the moon will fully block out the sun.
Pennsylvania's population is expected to grow by nearly 200,000 people to watch the eclipse.
"They're treating this like a weather emergency because we've never seen crowds of this magnitude," said Chris Temple, Visit Erie's Director of Communications.
Chris Temple is the Director of Communications for Visit Erie. She says the city has been preparing for this for more than a year, "Realistically, we know those numbers are going to be coming north to our shores to see totality. We're the only major city in Pennsylvania in totality."
There's a lot of places to watch the eclipse here in Erie, more than 50 different public viewing locations, something for everyone.
Even on the other side of the state, Photographer Tom Durant and I are meeting quite a few of you!
Frank and Marilyn Semanski are here from Hanover Township.
"We had to make our reservations over a year ago. We looked into it, found out what we needed to do, drove the longest we've ever driven in 25 years to get here. It took us six hours," said Frank Semanski, Hanover Township.
"Frank planned this a year ago. It's something we never expected to do, and we didn't think in 20 years we will see this again," said Marilyn Semanski, Hanover Township.
"What could be more fabulous than an eclipse for an optometrist in the eye world," said Dr. Janine Watkins, Port Carbon Optometrist.
Dr. Janine Watkins is an optometrist from Port Carbon. She's in Erie for the Pennsylvania Optometric Association Conference, and it's not a coincidence!
"It's just a beautiful event. For thousands of years, we've all looked forward to this as humanity, so I think it's beautiful. I come from six hours away," said Dr. Watkins.
In Erie County, totality begins at 3:16 p.m. and lasts for 3 minutes and 41 seconds.