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As the nation readies for the solar eclipse April 8, sites in the black-out swath are filling up with sky-gazers eager to see the moon slide between Earth and the sun.

As it does, its shadow will darken what's called the path of totality, a 115-mile-wide slice of the planet that includes Dallas, Cleveland, Indianapolis and San Antonio.

Notably absent: Naples, Cape Coral and Fort Myers.

How dark with Southwest Florida get in the eclipse?

That doesn't mean we won't have an eclipse. "From here, we're going to see about 52% coverage," said Heather Preston, planetarium director at Fort Myers' Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium.

"For us here, it won't be that dramatic," she said. "We won't be able to see the shadow, but with eclipse glasses, we will be able to see that coverage, which initiates around 2:15 (p.m.) and then will be maximum right around 3 o'clock and it's going to lose contact around 4:15."

Even so, she says, if you're paying attention, you'll know something unusual is happening. "There's a weird, sort of unearthly feeling to it once coverage becomes significant. With more than about 20, 30 % coverage, you're really going to notice the change in the light. So even though we won't have total coverage, it'll be noticeable."

Do your observing safely

We're not trying to insult your intelligence by mentioning that you shouldn't ever look directly at the sun, partial eclipse or not' we just want to remind you that safety certified eclipse glasses are widely available and pretty reasonably priced. The Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, for example, is selling them.

"We bought extra eclipse glasses and they're for sale in the lobby for $2," Preston said. "I want to make sure that nobody damages their eyes."

More:2024 solar eclipse will be visible in Florida. Here's where to find free glasses

Just be careful with what you buy, cautions Derek Buzasi, Whitaker Eminent Scholar in Florida Gulf Coast University's Department of Chemistry and Physics. "There are glasses floating around that don't meet the standard, and (with) your eyes, you don't get a second chance, so be a little cautious." He points out the American Astronomical Society, the professional organization for astronomers in the U.S., has a list of brands that they know meet the standard "and they're not selling them so it's not a conflict of interest or anything ‒ they just want to make sure people don't hurt themselves."

Solar retinopathy is serious business.

'This kind of magical alignment'

But total or not, the eclipse will still be cool in Southwest Florida. Magical even. Just ask Buzasi, who ought to know. "The fact that we can see such a thing at all is unique in the solar system," he said.

"Eclipses the way we have them on Earth are a really cool thing," he said. "It doesn't occur other places in the solar system (and) are probably pretty rare in the galaxy in general, because the apparent size of the moon in our sky and the apparent size of our sun in our sky are so close to one another, we get this kind of magical alignment along the path of totality where the moon covers the sun almost perfectly.

"We only get this effect for a few minutes when it happens, but it is this kind of magical thing and there's nowhere else in our solar system you can go and see something like this."

If you were on another planet, you might see another celestial body pass in front of the sun, "but not what we see here with this almost perfect alignment," Busazi said. "So it is kind of magical in that sense."

What's an eclipse like?

Preston, who' seen several in person describes them as "really beautiful. But it's also very weird," with odd silvery light. "As the sun's light diminishes in intensity, everything is still very clear, but it's just not as warm."

Even here, "at the time of maximum coverage, if you hold out your arm, you'll realize there's something wrong: It's not as warm as it usually is in full sunlight. And the fine details of everything are visible without the extra glow that direct sunlight usually causes," she said. "This is more like a really clear solar spectrum lamp."

Go ahead and celebrate

"I've been recommending to people who want to mark this occasion with their kids to do a little eclipse party," Preston said. "Serve tortillas with 52 % of the tortilla have guacamole on it, maybe do cookies with a crescent of 48 coverage of vanilla and 52 of chocolate. There are ways you can make it a memorable little celebration even if you're not driving to the path of totality."

The planetarium will be open for the occasion as well. "We are normally closed on Mondays, but we're opening up the planetarium from 12 to 5. Provided it's sunny, we'll set up the solar telescope outside on the concrete pad and will probably also have a viewing box next to it. Sometimes really little kids have trouble looking through telescopes, but they'll be fine with the viewing box.," she said. "And then in the dome, we'll be running shows about eclipses and NASA live coverage from the path of totality. "

What will I see and when?Search by ZIP code for details on the solar eclipse in Southwest Florida

Astronomy in real time

"From a big ‒ really big ‒ picture perspective, it's gratifying to see humans noticing the workings of the solar system," said Busazi.

"It's nice to see people go outside and look at the natural world, and around here that's often plants and animals and water, but we shouldn't forget the big-scale stuff too," he said.

"Just to be able to look up and see this happening is kind of astronomy in real time, and that's got value."

Nearly a year ago, we asked readers to answer this question: What restaurants do you long for the most?

These are places you want to visit so badly for that favorite burger, hot dog, pizza or chicken you've been craving fortnightly since you moved to Florida.

Readers overwhelmingly weighed in and said they want Portillo's to open a restaurant in Naples, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Marco Island, heck, anywhere in the 239 area code.

I predict one will come soon, and here's why.

Portillo's is already in Florida

The Illinois-based chain opened its first restaurants in Central Florida and has expanded to the north and west. Portillo's now has six restaurants in Florida: Brandon, Clermont, Kissimmee, Orlando, St. Petersburg and Tampa.

My hunch is that the next move is south, down Interstate 75, to what I've always called "Midwest Florida" because of so many who relocated from my native Michigan, along with Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota.

Portillo's founder lives in Naples

Dick Portillo, who opened the first restaurant called The Dog House 60 years ago in Villa Park, Illinois, lives in the Port Royal neighborhood along with his wife, Sharon. He sold the company in 2014 to Boston-based Berkshire Partners.

So, the founder resides in Naples and the Boston Red Sox spring training is in Fort Myers. Do you see how I'm thinking?

Power of readers

Portillo's serves up "Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, burgers, salads & chocolate cake," according to its Instagram.

They also offer a Chocolate Cake Shake. A Chocolate. Cake. Shake.

Diane Farina of Bonita Springs spoke for "many other misplaced Chicagoans here" when she said Portillo's was her favorite restaurant in our March 2023 story.

"If you don't get a lot of folks from the Midwest saying the same, I'll be really surprised!" Farina wrote in her email. "We have literally BEGGED the company to put one in Naples/Bonita or even Fort Myers!

"We NEED a Chicago hot dog place here! Anybody listening???"

Melissa Kwit of Naples raved aboutPortillo's, sending pics of her family eating at one.

"It is absolutely delicious and I always stop there when visiting my hometown, Chicago! They do have locations outside the Midwest, including Tampa and Orlando, but none in our area," she said in her email last year. "It would be great for the people of Southwest Florida to be able to enjoy Portillo's and it would be great to have a location here!"

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The higher-ups at Portillo's appreciate the love.

"We are very flattered and happy to hear about all our fans in the area," Mike Peterson, the Portillo's Florida and Texas field marketing coordinator, replied Thursday in an email to the Daily News. We had asked when will Portillo's reach Southwest Florida.

"The good news is, we are growing," Peterson continued. "More and more people can get their hands on our unrivaled Chicago style street food. Outside of that, we can’t comment on when and where. Healthy expansion is a slow and sometime tricky process.

"We will release any information when it’s ready. Thanks."

Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and News-Press. Follow him on Instagram and Threads @lacrossewriter and on Twitter @NDN_dosborn.

Exciting news! In a few weeks, we are heading down to Naples, Florida, where we just launched a new office!

Everybody knows what a fun city Miami is, but I am a big fan of the underappreciated gem that is the Gulf Coast of Florida. When the opportunity to partner with Adam Day, CFP in Naples came along, we jumped on it.

Michael Batnick and are coming down with some of our colleagues on March 4th-6th. We will be meeting with both clients and potential clients. We also will take the opportunity to discuss the state of the markets and the economy and what it means for your investments. This is the perfect opportunity to learn more about how we manage assets and develop financial plans for our clients, or to just swing by and say “hello.”

I’ll be in town from March 4th through the 6th. If you’d like to get on the calendar, send us a note and we’ll help you get scheduled. Send an email to info@ritholtzwealth.com with the subject line “Naples.”

We are excited to be coming to Florida’s West Coast and look forward to seeing you!

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Mark H. Bickel

It's not like Naples needs its 15 minutes of fame, considering the Collier County city is a global vacation destination with five-star restaurants, breathtaking real estate, and sand and water along its Gulf of Mexico coastline as far as the eye can see.

But on Wednesday night (Feb. 7), a clue on the ultra-popular game show "Jeopardy!" appeared on television screens across America, and there it was. In living color. And spoken so eloquently by host Ken Jennings: "Naples, Florida ..."

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It was early in the show (before the first commercial break in the Jeopardy! round) when one of the three contestants chose the category "The ICK". The answer to clues provided by Jennings in that category would have the letters "i-c-k" in them.

Jennings: "Naples, Florida has been called the 'capital of the world' for this paddle sport rising in popularity.

There was a brief pause.

Then, contestant Lisa Sriken, a lawyer from New York City, hit the buzzer first and answered correctly.

Sriken: "What is pickleball?"

Getting the correct answer netted Sriken $600, but it wasn't enough for her to win the episode. She lost in Final Jeopardy!, failing to come up with the correct answer for a clue about "The Wonders of the Ancient World."

It is not the least bit surprising Naples is known as the "capital of the world" for pickleball. Naples has hosted the Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championships every year since 2017 at the East Naples Community Park. This year's championships are April 13-20.

Pickleball on the rise:Marco Island looks to build pickleball center where tennis center is now

The pickleball footprint in and around Naples continues to grow with new courts under construction at regional parks and no doubt, more to come in the future as the sports continues to grow in popularity.

When the Great Wolf Lodge opens its first Sunshine State location in Southwest Florida in about six months, it will be like no other water park compound constructed before.

The $250 million Collier County colossus serves as a fourth generation rendition for the North American chain of 20 splashy sites, the Poseidon of the aquatic lodging sea. The Wisconsin Dells, the original of 1997, is Gen 1, followed by 2005's Gen 2 in Williamsburg, Virginia and then the Atlanta area in 2018, said Great Wolf Vice-President Jason Lasecki, who revealed for the first time in an In the Know interview some of the new indoor attractions for Naples.

"This is our next generation so there's going to be some things that are very different than from what we have in Georgia," said Lasecki, whose company this year brought in its Georgia Gen 3 general manager, Jason Bays, to lead the Florida effort, its furthest south ever. This is "the first of our Gen 4 lodges. This is the prototype moving forward."

Here are three things to know.

1. What is a new attraction Great Wolf hasn't had before?

"We're really excited to debut Breakaway Bay," Bays said of what's among the 12 slides, three pools and two interactive water play zones. "That's a 4- to 5-person raft ride that's going to go into a tornado bowl and spin, slosh people back and forth. Then go into a straightaway and hit a 360-degree spin that'll kind of be cool and then drop down to the pool. That's about 15 mph at its fastest. Not as much speed as much as it is going up and down, oscillating."

In the Know:Major Great Wolf Lodge prototype, first in Florida, targets water park launch in SWFL

2. What past Great Wolf offering is getting an upgrade in SWFL?

"We do have Rapid Racer that we're debuting," Bays said of a gravity-defying endeavor. "This is going to be a water coaster that's going to be capable of going up and down so there will be propulsion that will be able to bring people up and down as they're going. This will be the first one that goes up and down. It has the ability to go up, which is really neat. It's pretty cool."

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3. How will Great Wolf slides be different in Southwest Florida?

"We've kinda gone back and forth with tubing inside the building and tubing exclusively outside the building," said Lasecki, noting lessons learned and now changing in Naples from the LaGrange prototype. "And what we found is we purposely moved it all outside to give more of an open space feel. But as Jason can attest to at Georgia, we have some guests walk into the water park and go, 'Where's the slides?' Because it's just all open, and all the tubing's outside the building.

"So this one is like a nice hybrid. You've got some of the slides, tubing outside the building, but you also have some inside. So guests can walk in and go, "I see slides now.' Great Wolf's been around for 25-plus years, 27 years. We've gone through iterations where all the tubing is inside. None outside. We've gone completely outside. And again, this is more of a hybrid."

In future columns, we'll have answers to more of your many questions about the rising Great Wolf off Collier Boulevard and I-75, fueled in part by $15 million in county economic incentives with the hope it becomes the most impactful national tourist attraction to launch in Collier history. Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) grew up in Southwest Florida and writes In the Know for the USA TODAY Network.