As to the eclipse event itself:
1. The sky directly overhead turned very dark blue, one or two stars visible at totality.
2. We saw the diamond ring effect as the totality came and went.
3. We saw the 360 deg sunset effect
4. It seemed the temperature did drop some, by the time of totality the temps were much more bearable than earlier in the afternoon.
I promised myself I would not spend a lot of time trying to photograph the totality. From what I read, it's near impossible to get a decent photograph without expensive gear and expertise I do not have. But as the new, expensive camera was making video of the changing sky (about 6 minutes worth, sans sun) I had my 10 year old $225 Fujica Digital in my hand and I thought, why not? If it won't hurt your eyes, it won't hurt the camera, right? So I zoomed all the way out and squeezed off 4 handheld frames. Then just stood there with Sweet Wife on the muddy bank of Lake Hartwell and took it all in.
All the hype-sters out there were right about one thing, there is a big difference between 99% obscuration and totality. That 1% is 1% of the sun and is very bright. Totality is dark.
The difference is like night and day.