The solar eclipse is over, but it left a mark on Cape Breton

It was the only place in Nova Scotia in the path of totality for the solar eclipse. People came by the car loads to meet Cove to catch a rare glimpse. Locals knew the crowds were coming, but nothing like they experienced on Monday. I’m really lost for words at the amount of tourists that were in here. Hines estimates More than 1000 people came to the small northern Cape Breton community in a very short period of time. It’s a place known for its beauty and at its peak for visitors during the summer months. In the summertime we do get up to 500 cars like per day say from like 7:00 AM until 10:00 PM. Whereas like all these cars seem to come in right between like 12 and 4:00 right that like the road was just non-stop. It was definitely like nothing we have ever seen before. The food truck usually closed this time of year was open for business with a limited menu. They could barely keep up. We we pretty much ran out right just when we shut down. That was around 4:00. Chris McKinnon and Eileen McClelland didn’t quite know what to expect when they decided to open their food truck for the day, but in the end they cashed in on hundreds of dollars. We had to shut the doors a couple of times just to to take a breather and re prep just so another wave could come and and get going. Otherwise it was, you know, we didn’t know really what we could do to keep up with people. We didn’t want to upset too many people. So we just told people you know, now and then we’ll close the doors and we’ll reopen when we get prepped. Business the couple wouldn’t have had without the eclipse. And it’s an experience many who live here hope will bring people back to their picturesque place. Like, I think it brought a lot of, like local people here, like people in Nova Scotia who may not have, you know, necessarily come here. They only came for the eclipse. So I guess it gave them a chance to kind of drive down and see our little communities north of Smokey. A business boom and a day many won’t soon forget. Kyle Moore, CBC News, Sydney.