I saw it! I was at the path of totality in Zeigler, IL (not too far from Carbondale).
Being there helped me understand the difference between totality and everything else. When the sun was 90% covered there wasn't much of a difference. Then all of a sudden it became creepy dark (kind of like the moments just before sunrise), birds started flying around, and it seemed kind of apocolyptic. I can see why people in olden days thought the world was ending.
The sun looked like a gigantic pupil, as if some giant ethereal creature was staring at us. It was very moving, and was the coolest natural phenomenon I have ever witnessed (and likely ever will). The only time I've "sensed" that the sun and the moon are actually giant celestial bodies (vs. just head knowledge).
Driving was very obnoxious. The problem was that every little town with a 4-way stop that usually had 30 cars per hour had 1,000 cars. And every single one of them had to stop. Once you were on the open road, it wasn't bad, but I did see a couple car accidents (one of which was nasty) on the way back. From Alton, IL (where my hotel was) to Zeigler is 2 hours according to Google maps, but it actually took just under 3.5 hours. Very glad I listed to the people who said to allow double time! Same on the way back.
Nothing apocalyptical happened. No gas shortages, no cell phone towers going down, no riots, no food shortages. Just very busy and heavy traffic.
Still, it was worth it for those 4 minutes of totality. I would not do it every single year, but for an every-20-year thing, yeah!