Thousands of campers flocked to DeBow Park in Hopkinsville Sunday afternoon to prepare for the eclipse.
We caught up with them as they pitched tents and looked through telescopes at the sun.
Gary Barker lives in Hopkinsville. He said he's never seen anything like it.
"I call it tent city! 'Eclipseville' in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Enjoy the festivities! Once in a lifetime deal!" Barker said.
Each tent cluster in "Eclipseville" was named with street signs.
"We are actually standing on 'Galaxy Way' in the intersection of 'Milky Way Street!' In 'tent-ville.' Ya'll enjoy the festivities. I love it!" Barker said.
Loretta Hudson said she was enjoying every minute greeting tourists.
"It's growing and growing and growing," Hudson said. "This is a once in a life time thing for us to experience all of this. It's been wonderful!"
Chris Woodward came with his family from Philadelphia. He brought a telescope to his camp.
"I'm seeing a faint yellow whitish sun. In the center is a group of sun spots," Woodward said.
Woodward told Hudson and Barker that he's been looking forward to the eclipse for two decades.
"I had this kind of primal fear well up inside me, but I think it's going to be cool, going to see some stars tomorrow and probably some planets around the sun," Woodward said.
On Monday he thinks animals will act out.
"I think animals… there's probably going to be a possibility of aliens coming down to earth and anything like that could happen," Woodward said.
Campers passed time Sunday playing football, flying kites, eating watermelons, and playing in sprinklers.
"They're going to remember this their entire lives, so when I'm gone and they're at my funeral or whatever, they're going to say, 'Do you remember that time? That mom took us to the eclipse?' And this will be that,"Michelle Irwin said.
Irwin's kids started rolling in the mud by the sprinkler.
"$5 dollar t-shirts and $5 shorts are worth the price. They're going to remember this their entire lives!" Irwin said.
People came from all over the world to see totality.
"They have a flag on their tent," Irwin said. "They are from the Netherlands, and so we have been meeting so many people from so many different places. We're kind of packed in. All of our tents are really close to each other."
As the sun was shining bright Sunday, thousands of people waited for it to set, so they could see history Monday.
