The total solar eclipse brought crowds and cash to southwestern Ontario businesses

Alternate headline: Local businesses learn about the phenomenon known as "tourism."

All joking aside, I'm glad this helped out some smaller businesses.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

It was a moment for Essex County, Ont., in the national spotlight: As one of the first places in Canada to experience a total solar eclipse on Monday, the phenomenon brought in plenty of crowds — and business — to the area.

We did have a lot of visitors from Michigan, which since COVID we've been not necessarily … their first thought," said Jennifer Flynn, owner of the Grove Hotel and Motel in Kingsville and Colchester.

At the Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary, executive director Tom Coke estimated they had between 1,000 and 1,200 visitors.

Rogers says he checked in with emergency services after the eclipse and they reported minimal issues aside from a couple of fender-bender crashes.

Emergency services had previously told CBC News they were preparing for the eclipse with additional staff to help manage the influx of traffic and people.

With sunny skies over Kingsville — while other locations preparing for eclipse hype, like Niagara Falls, saw some clouds — he says he's heard from businesses that they had a "great day," though he couldn't comment on any numbers.

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