Alpena Natives Travel Out of Town to Witness a Total Solar Eclipse

It was truly a sight to see, and a time to be standing still in history. But for some Alpena natives’ witnessing a total solar eclipse was the only thing on their minds.

Leaving out a day earlier, some residents decided to travel south to witness just two minutes of a moment in time.

Honoring his brother, Dan who passed away from cancer 28 years ago, Les Seres traveled Sunday to Franklin, Tennessee to witness a full total solar eclipse, believing that it was something he could share with his brother.

“Me and him as younger kids growing up we were really into the stars, and the cosmos. This is the opportunity if I get the chance to see it hopefully he will see it through my eyes too,” Seres said.

Seres didn’t travel alone, he along with his wife and their children with some Alpena friends made the journey to witness the total eclipse as a family.

“To me it will probably be more of a spiritual experience then the whole physical thing too. But the opportunity to see full totality, full darkness of the moon crossing over the sun, once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m going for the gusto,” he said with joy.

The Seres family wasn’t the only ones from Alpena who planned on getting out of town…

Alpena High School, earth science and history teacher, John Caplis traveled to Ohio to give his children an educational lesson to remember.

“I want my kids to be able to see it. It’s one of those history–making events you know if you can get your kids to see it because the next one is in April 2024, so there’s a good chance that it will be cloudy in April so this is a good time to see the eclipse and is worth traveling for,” Caplis said.

All in all this day in history was truly a sight to see and like these Alpena natives said, it was a family affair.