Grey Towers visitors enjoy historic site amid cloudy conditions for solar eclipse

A viewing of the solar eclipse was held at the Grey Towers National Historic Site on Monday.

The moon wouldn’t start crossing the sun until around 2:10 p.m., but people gathered at the site well before then.

“I saw the advertisement for it,” said John Muzio of Sparta, New Jersey, who added that it was a perfect spot for it and was “probably the better spot than anywhere in New Jersey.”

“I got the invite from John,” said Neil Sauerwein, also of Sparta, New Jersey, who was watching the event with Muzio.

Muzio added that they both love Grey Towers and have been there on multiple occasions. Both Sauerwein and Muzio said it was a beautiful day for the event.

Richard and Desiree Gonzalez are from Shohola, and their reason for attending, in part, was to check out the museum at Grey Towers.

“We wanted to look at the museum,” said Desiree Gonzalez. “We’ve never been inside, so we looked at it.”

“Super excited to see the eclipse,” said Leslie Lordie of Milford. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

She added that it was “just great to see people in the community come out and support a really cool event."

“I though it wouldn’t be too crowded, which is nice,” said Randy Wiliams of Tobyhanna. “Beautiful view, beautiful historical site, and it’s going to be a beautiful day so we can be outside.”

Wiliams, who was at the event with his family, mentioned that he was more excited that his kids could see the event with him.

“This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come and see this event, teach them, and I’m excited that they’re going to be here with me,” said Williams.

“Actually, to be honest, my niece is the one that chose the place,” said Cesar Velando of Bridgewater, New Jersey. “Once I got here, I realized that it’s a really good, nice place.”

Velando added that while it was his first time at Grey Towers, it probably would not be his last.

The event started with a nice view of the sun, and the moon that was starting to cover it.

However, clouds would later roll over the sun, blocking the view of the eclipse for a second or two; the clouds would eventually stay for the remainder of the event.

There was a brief moment where observers could see the moon covering the sun before it faded away again.

Grey Towers Historical Association Volunteer Joseph Kissling described the eclipse itself as “anticlimactic,” but added that the viewing event itself was not ruined.

“It was nice to see all the people come up, because it was sunny for a while and people seemed to be having a good time, throwing the frisbees around,” said Kissling.

Debra Riddle, of Matamoras, attended the viewing with her husband, George Riddle, and sister, Laurin Diamond of Cornwall, New York.

“We live in Matamoras, but I said, ‘You know, we could see this in our backyard, but I’d rather come to a beautiful mansion and see it,’” said Debra Riddle, to which Diamond agreed.

Debra Riddle also added that it was the first time for all of them on the grounds of the site, adding that the experience was perfect and that they all got to see a little bit of the moon in the lower corner before the clouds arrived to stay.

George Riddle added that the house was beautiful, and the staff was friendly and accommodating.

At some point before everyone started to leave, the moon could be seen covering the sun, giving it a crescent shape.

Max Augugliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Solar eclipse draws new visitors to Grey Towers National Historic Site