From where I was standing it was total nighttime darkness. Most eyes were on the totality event and not looking for stars but I did see some of the larger ones. The strangest part for me was the night bugs. They were extremely loud and confused. Security lights all popped on all of a sudden. When it was getting darker to start with it was gradual but when it got close to the total eclipse it fell dark extremely fast and got light just as fast. It wasn’t a natural sunset or sunrise like normal. During the totality it even seemed darker to me than a normal night darkness for some reason. It was like the darkness you have when there is no moon. The whole thing was kind of creepy but fascinating at the same time. I’m in a rural area so out nights are very dark except during the full moon. It was that dark.
Thanks for that excellent first-hand report.
Must have been a truly incredible experience to witness a totality eclipse.
As for the typically dark sky area you are in, I had said on here before the event that, if I could manage it, I would look to view the eclipse from a really dark night sky area, with the expectation of seeing more stars during totality, making it an even more amazing experience.
I, too,observed full totality from a boat anchored on Watts Bar Lake at a,point about two miles above Watts Bar Dam. The most striking part of this extraordinary event was when the sun emerged from behind the moon with a sudden flash. It was great to have a totally clear sky.