TIPTONVILLE — In the middle of the triangular intersection of Southern Route 22 and North 20, a civil war monument sits to commemorate the capture of Island No. 10, a small island at the turn of the Mississippi River at the Kentucky border.
Normally, it’s a drive-by spot few take the time to stop and see.
However, on Monday, it was a prime spot in Tennessee to view the 2024 solar eclipse.
Tiptonville, a small town of 3,503 at last count in 2022, is one of the only spots in Tennessee along the path of totality, reaching "deep totality," with a magnitude of 99.79%.
The area along the path of totality felt like an evening sky of darkness, dropping what felt like at least 20 degrees in temperature over a short duration as the moon crept to block the sun.
Near the monument, a motorcycle group called “The Flash Mob” made the trip from all over Tennessee for the historic occasion — the last in North America for 20 years. The group had special bourbon made to commemorate the last two total solar eclipses in the contingent U.S.
Joe Dowd, 74 of Spring City, Tennessee, made the cross-country motorcycle trip during the last solar eclipse with other members of “The Flash Mob.” The group stopped in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to see the eclipse in 2017.
“This is the last one I’ll see,” Dowd said. “I don’t think I’ll make another [20] years, and if I do, I definitely won’t be on (a motorcycle).”
Jerry Rice (not to be confused with pro football Hall of Famer) is 78 and hails from Lakeland just outside of Memphis. He made the 84-mile trip to Tiptonville for a different experience with some of his buddies.
“It’s the first time we’ve ridden for (an eclipse),” he said.
About 30 feet away, three generations of the Clay family sit on the tailgate of a pickup truck. Mike Clay, 51, from Oakland, Tennessee, saw the 2017 solar eclipse in Arkansas. His daughter, Addie, was just a year old.
Mike, with his wife Allison, 46, also from Oakland, brought Addie, now 7, and Mike’s father, Jimmy Clay, from Ripley, to witness the eclipse as a family.
“I knew I wanted to bring (Addie), because it’s probably a once in a lifetime deal for her and I to witness the eclipse,” Mike said. “We almost went to Jonesboro, Arkansas, but we decided to come here, and we brought my dad with us.”
Jimmy Clay, camped out in a lawn chair after moving from the tailgate of the truck, was happy to be with his family and experience the minute-long phenomenon.
“I’ve ever seen an experience like this with an eclipse,” Jimmy said. “It’s just wonderful, I appreciate them coming by my home in Ripley, picking me up this morning and bringing me here. … It’s a once in a lifetime thing in this man’s life, because I don’t think I’ll be around the next time it happens again.”
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