This article was originally published by WDRB news on August 21, 2017 at 11:07 p.m.
On Monday, Eclipse traffic was spotted as far north as Elizabethtown, and local businesses were seeing major profits because of it.
Tourism officials said they knew the eclipse would be a big deal, but they didn't expect to benefit like this.
"This was a gigantic deal for us," said Jessica Gowen of the Elizabethtown Tourism & Convention Bureau.
The city was miles from totality but still cashed in on the solar eclipse.
"Most of our hotels were sold out," Gowen said.
Elizabethtown tourism officials said hotels, restaurants and local shops saw a big boost over the weekend. But Gowen said the biggest surprise was those who chose to watch the eclipse 125 miles from Hopkinsville.
"We thought (eclipse tourists) would stay in E'town for a little bit and then go on to Hopkinsville where it was a total eclipse," Gowen said. "But we had a ton of people staying here."
Gowen said people from across the country, and as far as Russia and Canada, watched from Elizabethtown's welcome sign under 97.6 percent totality.
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