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As the president vacations in Maine, here are some vacation fun facts to chew over this weekend:
- -- Taft nearly 100 years ago, back in 1911, was the last president to vacation in Mount Desert Island, Maine, a quiet area in the shadow of Acadia National Park frequented by some celebrities.
- -- He is said to have shot a 27 on a single hole at Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor. We'll see if Obama plays there and if he can shoot better than THAT.
- -- Taft arrived in the presidential yacht on his vacation.
- -- Laura Bush ate at the Jordan Pond House restaurant in Mount Desert Island with a view of Penobscot Mountain two years ago.
- -- Mount Desert Island is 205 milies, or a 3-hour, 45-minute drive to Kennebunkport.
- -- Obama has taken 65 vacation days compared with 120 for Bush at this point, including 13 trips to his Crawford ranch, per CBS's Mark Knoller.
- -- Obama has vacationed so far in Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon (last summer), Memorial Day in Chicago when the Obamas slept in their own home for the first time in a year, Hawaii, and Martha's Vineyard.
- -- Obama's vacations haven't exactly been restful for the president and family. Consider: During the Chicago trip, Obama had to leave for a Gulf spill inspection tour; Hawaii was the underwear bomber, Martha's Vineyard was Ted Kennedy's death. There has also been the twice-rescheduled Indonesia trip.
Mount Desert Island Presidential/Celebrity History
The last sitting president to visit the island was William Howard Taft, who infamously shot a 27 on a single hole at the Kebo Valley Golf Club in 1911; now locals are wondering if Obama might play a round there.
Or maybe the Obamas will eat at the Jordan Pond House restaurant and take in the pond-front view of the spectacular sheer face of Penobscot Mountain. Laura Bush dined here quietly two years ago, blending in with the hundreds of visitors who line up daily to sample the restaurant’s famed popovers.
Perhaps the Obamas might stop by the Bar Harbor Hemporium, where actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon bought hemp paper and where John Malkovich has shopped for beads?
Bangor Daily News/AP on Obama's Vacation, Interrupted Presidency
Bar Harbor and its surroundings are famed as a summer getaway for the rich and famous, from the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts who built homes there to the Hollywood stars who often turn up. But aides say Obama's visit will focus on Acadia, whose 47,000 acres include Cadillac Mountain, the tallest peak on the East Coast.
The park visit follows last summer's Obama family trip to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park, which included whitewater rafting and peach-picking. ... Consider the most recent full-family holiday: a Memorial Day weekend in Chicago that was overtaken by the Gulf oil spill. After the Obamas slept at their Chicago home for the first time in a year, the president got up and left for a daylong Gulf inspection tour. That diversion followed the Obamas' Christmas trip to Hawaii, interrupted repeatedly for briefings and comment on the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound jet.
And it followed last summer's Martha's Vineyard stay, interrupted by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, whose Boston funeral Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended.
Then there was the planned visit to Indonesia, where Obama spent part of his youth. He'd hoped to show daughters Malia and Sasha his old haunts. But the trip was scrubbed, first in March as health care neared its climax, then again in June because of the oil spill. It's now expected late this year. ...
According to a tally kept by Mark Knoller, a CBS News reporter long recognized by the White House as authoritative on such matters, Obama has spent all or part of 65 days on vacation, including days at Camp David. At this point in his tenure, George W. Bush had spent 120 days. That included 13 trips to his Texas ranch.
More General Presidential Vacation History
Boston Globe:
President Dwight Eisenhower relaxed at the 18th hole during a golf game while on vacation in September 1957 in Newport, R.I.
President Herbert C. Hoover laughed as he hooked one of the five large sailfish he caught on his vacation trip aboard the Sequoia in Florida waters in January 1933. The photograph was taken by the president's secretary, Lawrence Richey.
The newly renovated Anderson Cottage at the Old Soldiers' Home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., came to be known as Lincoln's Cottage. For three summers, Abraham Lincoln and his family retreated to the cottage, and Lincoln spent a full quarter of his presidency there, sometimes meeting with visitors in his slippers. It is believed he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation there, and it's where he got word of the triumph at Gettysburg.
President George W. Bush waved as he fished off the coast of Kennebunkport, Maine, with his father, George Herbert Walker Bush, on Aug. 24, 2006. President Bush was visiting his parents for the weekend as part of his summer vacation. The president vacationed at his 1,600-acre ranch for nearly a month in 2002.
President Calvin Coolidge shot at clay pigeons in this Sept. 6, 1928, file photo at his vacation home on the Brule River in Superior, Wis. He scored 29 out of 37.
President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, Obama's current secretary of state, rode bicycles during their 1994 vacation on the island. The Clintons visited the Vineyard several times.
Leave a Comment:
Bush vacaioned more than Obama by this point in his first term? Really?
Hey JoAnna- I think I found another reason Bush is better than Obama- He saved taxpayers some coin on the electric utility costs at the white house. And the water bill, too! What a guy. Do you miss him yet? Boy, I now I sure do.
Hey- while I'm at it, when are you going to bring that new JoAnna Diet-Donut to market? You know- the one that's all hole, and little else? (cake-hole, I mean....)
JoAnna's diet-donut. Now with an even bigger hole and still at the same price.
I think she's gone to an undisclosed location.
Poor JoAnna - all bark and NO bite!
Is she the latest casualty with a trip to the vet? The rest of the gang has been tutored... ooops I mean neutered! lol
-- Obama has taken 65 vacation days compared with 120 for Bush at this point, including 13 trips to his Crawford ranch, per CBS's Mark Knoller
______________
Doe's this mean the uptight righties will once and for all SHUT UP about the amount of vacation time President Obama takes?
He has TAKEN roughly 50% LESS than 'W' - continuing to spread the 'urban legend' only reinforces what fools you are...
Nah! More wishful thinking on my part I guess... lol
Does the President Obama's 65 days include all the Sundays off for golfing?
Seriously, when President Obama and President Bush, or any President goes to a location other than the White House, I hardly think it should be considered vacation days - working vacations, maybe? Considering the entourage that follows them, Presidents are Presidents 24/7/365.
Why is this important?
The president needs to get out of D.C. more.
Or maybe permanantly. That would be better.
Why would you want Joe Biden to be the President?
How would that be better for you?
I don't expect the policies of the Administration would change much under Biden, so what gives?
I doubt you have, or ever had, the balls to answer those questions.
Thanks for the interesting article FR.
I believe Pres Obama has returned to his Chicago home twice compared to Bush's 13 trips to Crawford. No doubt the critics will be find something. Now that the BP well is temporarily closed, they'll have to find another reason to question any vacation time for Pres Obama.
Daddy finally plugged the hole.
I'm sure glad he did and he certainly deserves a little vacation after "not rest"ing for 86 days 'till it was plugged and the coast restored.
Bob, Bammy's presidency is one big , black hole, come to think of it.
I'm a city person; I was brought up in the city so it's the life I'm accustomed to. I live just a few blocks from the beach and my office is right on Boston Harbor, so the ocean for me is important.
But I have to say once I went to Germany and Austria many years ago I developed a real love of places with lakes and mountains and forests. There is nothing like it. It's why I'm so looking forward to visiting our National Parks next year. I spent a day in Salzburg and couldn't believe how drop dead peaceful and beautiful it was.
Maine is quite a place to vacation. It's so New England. The Obama family picked a great place to go, even if it's only for a weekend. Spectacular scenery, and the perfect place to go when you're in need of some old fashioned family time with the children and in need of some fun and relaxation.
Very healthy.
Sitting outside eating steamers, lobster, cole slaw, potato salad, fruit salad, watermelon, hamburgers, hot dogs, beer, lemonade, music playing in the background.
Taking a swim. A boat ride. An ice cream. Perfect summer weekend.
I saw a movie.
I think it was Slingblade or something.
Guy in the movie liked fried taters.
I thought it was funny the way he said it.
Domenico Montanaro! It's Mount Desert Island, not "Desert Island." The locals call it "Mount Dessert" NOONE calls it "Desert Island!"
The bare mountain tops looked like a desert, as noted by the French explorer Samuel de Chaplain as he sailed by, not the whole island which is lush with green in trees.
NOONE calls it "Desert Island!"
It's the most beautiful place on earth, and it's where my family, who are not rich or famous, comes from and returns to. It's not just for the wealthy and well connected.
Is that Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits?
Oops...thanks, Richard...NO ONE calls Mount Desert Island "Desert Island"! And I can't believe this post has not been corrected by now, this is really kind of upsetting. Is it because I wrote NOONE instead of NO ONE?
Is any one listening?
I don't think they are listening, Amy. I also came to see if it was corrected. Nope! *sigh* It is upsetting. Acadia is my fave spot in the world !!
wisny
I know! This is beyond exasperating! Mount Desert Island is one of the most sacred places on earth and this dope kept calling it "Desert Island." Might as well call the Lincoln Memorial the Linked Memorial, or Washington D.C. Washington District, or The Grand Canyon The Great Canyon, or the Gulf Coast the Golf Coast or The Statue of Liberty the Statue of Library, or The Golden Gate Bridge the Golden Gait Bridge, or ... you get the picture. I have to get off the Internet and go outside. This is just making me sick.
PS. Oh! It just occurred to me, do think Domenico went to the Desert Of Maine as a child and he is conflating it with Mount Desert? The Desert of Maine is a tourist trap near Freeport, created when a farmer accidently destroyed his land through erosion, and promoted it as "the Desert of Maine." Bet Domenico went to Perry's Nut House as well!
Amy, I think Domenico ripped off the Jordan Pond Tea House errors from the Boston Globe article at the bottom, and who knows about the Mount Desert Island error? I think he cribbed this 'article' in 2 minutes flat and didn't do any research or fact-checking at all !
LOL who knows about the Desert of Maine though. It would be a groaner to find out that was the cause of the mistake, but I guess he's never been to our Vacationland at all !!!
Come on - an article to use to impress your friends with facts - AND YOU GET THE FACTS WRONG!??
LOL. It's MOUNT Desert Island, not Desert Island. And yes, it matters. And, it's Jordan Pond TEA House, not Jordan Pond House. And yes, that one matters too. What it's famous for is the afternoon tea on the lawn w/ homemade popovers, homemade butter, and homemade jam!!
Disappointed in the sloppiness, Domenico!
FR finally writes an artical the libs actually knows something about and they discover FR gave misinformation and got the facts wrong! Weird! Oh well no worries, it probably has never happend before. ha.
At least he didn't call it dessert island. In his haste to get the story out so he could continue with is playing the farm game or go to lunch early Dominico probably was in a little bit of a hurry. Journalists aren't really journalists any more but gossip spreaders. Unfortunately that is what readers and listeners want.
Amy's right - we tent there every year. NOT just for the wealthy and famous.
Also, Jordan Pond Tea House may have a view of Penobscot Mtn (can't remember), but the one it's famous for is the view of the Bubbles (North Bubble Mountain and South Bubble Mountain) and Bubble Rock beyond Jordan Pond, the view which overlooks the lawn on which Afternoon Tea is served.
http://www.acadia.ws/bubble-mountains.htm
Obama should get out of DC more and start telling all those redneck gulf state citizens to stop sitting around waiting for the taxpayers or BP to pay them for sitting around...it makes me sick everytime sime neonut southern politician bitches about spending and then demands more spending on their loser constituents...pull yourselves up by your bootstraps...heres the starps, no boots though...
The last time I checked, Memorial day was at the end of May. Also, the last time I checked, the well blew up in APRIL.
Obama did not have to 'suddenly' cut his trip short-he was SHAMED into it by public outrage that he was partying while the disaster went on.
You fail to mention the derelection of duty by not placing a wreath at Arlington, as every other president has done. Guess it is just one more 'unprecedented' thingy from Mr. Historically Unprecedented.
Man, did you guys pick a loser to be your hero.
To paraphrase Saint Sir Thomas Moore: it profiteth a man nothing to gain the world but lose his soul; but for Obama?
Bush and other presidents also didn't spend every Memorial Day holiday at Arlington, but we mustn't mention such things because they make nojonobo look like a hate filled hypocrite.
no joe, all blo,
The first ceremony at Arlington was in 1929 by Herbert Hoover. Since then several Presidents have not attended (It is not their duty). Most recently skipped by:
1983 Reagan, 1992 Bush 41 and 2007 Bush 43. Notice all 3 are Republicans ! ! ! !
President Bush missed Memorial Day at Arlington in 2007 because he was placing a wreath at Normandy.
Oops. Correction.
President Bush missed Memorial Day at Arlington in 2002 because he was placing a wreath at Normandy.
He did spend Memorial Day at Arlington in 2007. Here's a link to his speech.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/memorial-day-2007.htm
Reagan missed four of eight Memorial Days at Arlington, and Bush 41 missed four of eight Memorial Days at Arlington. Bush 43 did miss once, and it was b/c of services in Normandy, but it was in 2002, not 2007:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/memorialday.asp
Bush 41 was only president 4 years ! !
LOL !!! That was a silly slip on my part! Then Bush 41 missed four of FOUR Memorial Days at Arlington, and Reagan missed four of eight Memorial Days at Arlington.
RW meme that Obama is baaaadddd b/c he skipped Memorial Day at Arlington is just complaining for the sake of complaining. It's not the work of serious people.
The petty nastiness and hypocrisy of the Obama haters is just incredible. Bush #1 spent a Memorial Day vacationing as this article states:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20006346-503544.html
And G. W. Bush missed the wreath-laying for Veterans Day 2007
Nobody cared that Bushes 1 and 2 missed some wreath laying ceremonies. Only the wingnuts have invented this new requirement for Obama they failed to apply to Republicans.
So, Obama has taken just a little over half the time off for vacation thant Bush did, but of course that won't stop the wingnuts who never complained about Bush's marathon vacations from attacking Obama for taking 50% less vacation. That's why they hate comparisons between Obama and Bush and especially when the comparison is quantitative like this one.
BTW: The defense for Bush was that his many long vacations were "working" vacations, but during his infamous August 2001 vacation he couldn't be bothered to do the work necessary to respond to the dire warnings he was receiving that Osama Bin Laden was "determined to strike inside the United States." Defending the country interfered too much with his brush clearing activities on his Crawford ranch.
CNN has brought on some woman named Julia Reed to attack President Obama on a regular basis. Why is her opinion so terribly important? She's a food column editor for Newsweek Magazine so I guess we should hang on to her every expert word about the oil spill. She got a bit of flack for saying the president was "out of his cotton-picking mind" yesterday. She's been accused of racism due to the "cotton-picking" remark. While I see nothing racist about the use of this common phrase, it was incredibly disrespectful. I don't recall that the Corporate News Network ever had any guests on that were that disrespectful to Bush. If they did, I suspect that those guests were probably never invited on again.
Whether Julia Reed is racist or not, I don't know, but she obviously suffers from Obama Derangement Syndrome. The times I've listened to her she seemed totally incoherent, but her willingness to say inflammatory things about the president evidently is the reason CNN has her on. CNN is in a race to the bottom with Fox News for teabagging viewers.
This woman is some kind of provocateur. The first time I saw her on CNN about forty days ago she used the "COTTON PICKEN MIND" phrase in reference to Obama, and I am quite sure that thousands of viewers called or wrote in to complain. CNN has to be complicit in allowing this poseur to continue to be seen and heard using this inflammatory rhetoric.
Anyone who doesn't make every effort to avoid looking like a racist, is probably a racist.
I misread the date of an article about the "cotton picking" remark. She made it on June 16, not July 16. She apparently hasn't used it again, but every time I've seen her she's made nasty remarks about the president. She's certainly not a very good spokesperson for getting sympathy for the plight of Louisiana. When I see idiots like her, it makes me think that since this is a wacky red state that votes for the Republican proponents of unregulated "free" enterprise that made this mess possible, let THEM clean it up and stop whining on the nightly news about it.
Ah........simple mistakes do happen. But at least we caught it fairly quickly.
We have added Mount to the beginning of Desert Island. Apologies to the Mainers out there. It does look like an idyllic spot. But, Amy, I thought Mainers were among the more civil in this country?
As for the Jordan Pond House, wisny, it may be colloquially known as the Jordan Pond Tea House. I don't know, I haven't been there. But, according to the establishment's Web site, it is, in fact, called the Jordan Pond House Restaurant: http://www.jordanpond.com/
And I am glad to hear the area is not just a playground for the rich and famous, as I may want to visit. But the phrase was included because of Boston Globe's reporting on celebrities who have made appearances. That has also been reworded. Thanks, all, as always, for the feedback.
Domenico I appreciate the correction and the apology, and I apologize for calling you a dope.
I was upset, Mount Desert Island is very important to me. Hope you come up sometime.
Yayyyy, Domenico !!! Thx for fixing! The 'Mount' is important b/c it's part of the history of the island. The French thought the mountaintops looked like deserts on top, so the island has the goofy name of 'Mount Desert' :-).
And re: Jordan Pond House ---- pick my chin up off the laptop!!! WOW. Okay, now I feel bad for calling you on the carpet for the 'error' in the name! Indeed, up in Acadia, most people just call it the Teahouse. I never once noticed it wasn't actually part of the real name!
Hope you do visit - and if you do, don't miss the Tea House !! :-). Despite the name, it's definitely 'not rich and famous' friendly! Hikers tramp up to the door in dirty hiking boots, shorts, and T-shirts, and get beepers after putting their names on the lineups list, all for the chance to have tea and popovers on the beautiful lawn out back. Do NOT let them put you on the 'sit inside list'. The view is spectacular !!! Oh, and it only costs around ten bucks for the tastiest afternoon yummies EVAH!
Oh, and ps! Definitely get ice cream in Bar Harbor, like the Obamas did, but GO TO BEN AND BILL'S on Main Street. I'm sure Bar Harbor Ice Cream is delicious, but Ben and Bill's is not to be missed!!!
- wisny :)
While Acadia may be beautiful, I don't doubt that it is, it will never compare with the beauty of Yosemite.
Adler,
I would love to see Yosemite some day. It's on my bucket list! :)
Bammy should have gone to the gulf of Mexico instead of the gulf of Maine. At least , show some solidarity with the people there.
So now BP, has admitted that the British govt released the Lockerbie bomber in exchange for oil in Libya. You know what, Britain should make restitution to all those Spanish countries and its empire for looting it. I think they should take the case to the UN and pressure the robber barons of Britain to hand over all that wealth they robbed in Latin America. Anyhow , I will leave them to the tender mercies of the Muslim population in their midst.
DINOS are always hunting in every nook and cranny for racists. They can't find any. Why because they are the biggest racists. How could they? They are always searching for themselves! When their search take them back to the roots of their party, they quietly drop the matter.
This discussion of who missed memorial days is laughable. Bammy is the only president to deliberatley turn his back on a Memorial day to go visit his gangster buddies in ole Chicago. What do Socialists care about memorial days? All they care about is social engineering and big spending. Without the huge spending, there can never be social engineering like the death panels, confirmed by Krugman. Its all coming to a medical center near you, as soon as possible.
I like Julia Reed, she seems to be aggravating the worshippers of the great god Obama on Mount Washington. If as she said that Bammy is out of his cotton picking mind, I think she is wrong. She should have said that he is out of his pineapple picking mind! Hey socialists, I'm not racist. But I do a lot of racing around NY. I use a bicycle. Heheh.
Why are you socialists so grumpy about Julia Reed? Your former leader Byrdie, was a KKK, man was he one of them. Never heard not a single peep from any of you that he was the Grand Wizard of OZ. I wonder if he ever met AH? If he was alive I would have asked him that.
Don't worry CU. Bammy will be going on a permanent vacation soon. The voters of America will see to that.
Anyone who doesn't make every effort to not look like a racist, is probably a racist. We can only hope that while you are racing around NY on your bike, that you get hit by a cab that's being driven by a Muslim. Allah hu Ahkbar!
And that the Emergency room doesn't accept your insurance.
The Irony would be so sweet.
Juven:
So Britain admitted the trade of the bomber for oil, should we drop a few nukes on London or what? That is what the Bushies would want do. Why is it that the POTUS has to be where YOU want him for the reasons YOU want him to be there. Your unbridaled hatred for the man is obvious. Your reason for the hatred is not so clear. Could it be racist? Those who brag about their patriotism or who put those silly little magnet ribbons on their cars want everyone to know they are patriots because they aren't sure people will think them a such. Are you a true patriot? I really don't care but I'll bet you were one of those who called anyone who dared to disagree with Dubya and Dick as totally unpatriotic. What is nice about democracy is that democracy thrives on dissent and difference of opinion. We are glad you have made your remarks. We are glad for Sarah Palin and the teabaggers. They are part of the fabric of America along with the rest of us. They merely make our argument easier. Thanks for sharing your rants with us.