I would strongly recommend that anyone who can get in the path of the total eclipse today, do it. It is a most fantastic natural phenomenon to witness.
Protective eclipse viewing glasses are essential if you're going to look directly at the sun during the partial phase. From my personal experience, though, there are more fascinating ways to observe the partial phases of the eclipse than just gawping at an ever reducing orange crescent through a pair of sun-filter glasses. So if you don't have the protective eyewear, here are some other ways you can experience the eclipse.
1. Get creative with pinhole cameras. A colander will project multiple crescents on the ground or onto paper. As the partial phase progresses, the shadows get sharper, so you can project crescent images through larger and larger apertures. If you are standing near a tree, the sunlight between the leaves will start to resolve into tiny crescents. When I viewed the 1999 total eclipse in Europe I was able to project crescents using just the gaps between my fingers just before totality.
2. Be aware of how the wildlife behave. Birds get confused and think it's night time, and it goes eerily quiet.
3. Feel the changes in the atmosphere. It gets colder, you might feel changes in the wind.
4. SEE the changes in the atmosphere. This doesn't happen with every total eclipse, apparently, so maybe I was lucky - just before totality look on the ground to see if the air is rippling. If it is, you will see shadows rippling over your feet as if you were standing in clear water.
5. Take in the colours of the sky and clouds, (hopefully not too much of those will be around) - it does look otherworldly.
6. If you're on high ground or can see for some distance, literally moments before totality you will be able to see the dark shadow rushing towards you.
7. When it goes total, it's safe to look up and take in up to 2 minutes of awesomeness. Look for streamers and prominences - and observe the stars.
8. IMPORTANT - make sure you are aware of how long totality lasts in your area, and that someone is timing it, because you MUST look away before totality is over. I will always be thankful to the guy who screamed at everyone 'look away, look away' just seconds before, because I would have still been looking at it when part of the sun emerged. Even the tiniest portion of the sun is intense enough to do damage to your eyes, especially as your pupils will be enlarged at this point.
But overall, enjoy it. It's a fantastic experience - I would have loved to have gone to the US to witness it again, but I'll be waiting until 2026, when there's one in Spain. 
