The heavy, late morning cloud cover had made even the most optimistic observers in the group nervous. Everyone had their scopes and equipment covered. I heard the drum beats of a local calipso band, coming from the nearby park . It was encouraging. Then we saw the large area of extended blue sky coming our way at T minus 10 minutes.
Cheers rang out loudly and smiles returned to the faces.
I am very pleased with the pictures. I used a cable release and was able to spend time observing with the naked eye , during totality. I also got a short glance with 10x50 binoculars. I just don't have enough words to describe the beauty of the solar corona and prominences. I saw Mercury and Jupiter, but never thought to look for Venus.