FRENCH LICK, Ind. — Head toward the path of totality this weekend, and you'll find eclipse festivities already underway.
"This is a once in a life time thing," David Wolford, French Lick, Ind. town council president, said.
"It has been in plan for about a year, two years. And, so now that we've got people here, and it's starting to go, it's kind of like, 'Okay. You can take a breath. We're that far along,'" Roger Wininger, vice president of the French Lick-West Baden Chamber of Commerce, said.
Because come Monday, not even the tourist town of French Lick can predict how many thousands of onlookers will be headed their way.
"It's been on the calendar marked for about a year, but everyone's been talking about it for, you know, since the last Eclipse," Wolford said.
"We're still anxious for Monday, because it's such an unknown still to us as far as what else goes on," Wininger said.
It's a solar spectacle selling out every space in sight.
"And that's every hotel that's in French Lick," Wininger said. "There's certain events that book up. But most of the time, no, we're not booked up all the time."
The event could bring tens of thousands to this town of 1,700. And, when it comes to security, Wolford says police are ramping off efforts.
"Oh, we got that the whole town's shut down," he said. "They know there's gonna' be some people—more people than there has been in the past. They've hired more police officers, they've got security guards at night . It's better to be better prepared than not."
And while there's some things you can prepare for, others not so much.
"The traffic is a little bit more the parking lots are filled up already," Wolford said.
"The only thing is, everyone knows small towns don't have a lot of access in and out so that's probably going to be our biggest problem," Wininger said. "Once again, you're going to have to take your time and be patient because everybody will be wanting to leave at the same time."
Indiana traffic officials said the state's transportation department will limit road closures and restrictions on state routes to help with traffic flow surrounding the eclipse.
"But we're here for the entire day on Monday, so hang around after the eclipse and let the traffic die down," Wininger said.
And with the opportunity to catch a once-in-a-lifetime view, seldom can a bit of bumper-to-bumper traffic dampen the mood.
"It is the most magnificent thing you'll ever see," Wolford said. "Everybody comes together stops for a couple minutes of their life. And everybody's doing the same thing looking up and you know, just in awe of nature and what life's about."
Be sure to join WHAS11's Chief Meteorologist Ben Pine and Meteorologist Christina Sanjuan in French Lick for the WHAS11 Eclipse Watch Party on April 8!
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