RANGELEY, Maine — People are beginning to flock to towns lying in the path of totality ahead of Monday's total solar eclipse.
"The streets are full. The stores are full. We have people in our seats," restaurant owner Monika Liedl of The Red Onion said.
Out-of-towners filled the area's restaurants and shops on Sunday as they passed the time before the main event.
Chris Pulsifer has spent more than six years planning this trip for his family to see the eclipse.
"We can't wait for tomorrow afternoon," Pulsifer, who traveled from New Jersey, said. "We've been really excited about it."
While visitors are eager to see the celestial event, Mainers are excited for the opportunity to see it in their own backyard, too.
"We're gonna lock the doors for about an hour so the crew enjoy it as well. They deserve it just as much as anybody else does," Liedl said.
Rangeley's Chamber of Commerce is expecting about 20,000 people in town for the eclipse.
Liedl said some of her staff will pull double shifts and some past employees will return to work for the day.
"We’ve been preparing since last year when we heard about it, but you can only plan so much, and hope for the best when the day gets here," she said.
One Rangeley and Kingfield shop owner said the eclipse comes as a relief, bringing more business amid a rather slow winter.
Julie Swain, the owner of Rangeley Made in Maine, started selling her own eclipse shirts and said after one week, she sold several hundred.
"I feel really blessed because both my shops—the one in Kingfield on the way to Sugarloaf and the Rangeley one—are both in the path of totality, so it’s a nice economic boom at the end of the winter," Swain said.