PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. ? Faced with a lonely weekend of rattling around the White House without his wife and daughters, President Barack Obama arranged a golf outing with some buddies. In Florida.
Immediately after a speech Friday in his hometown of Chicago on building a stronger middle class, Obama flew into the airport in West Palm Beach and was driven for nearly an hour to coastal Palm City and behind the gates of the Floridian Yacht and Golf Club, an exclusive resort that will serve as the president's home away from home until he returns to Washington on Monday.
It's a weekend with the boys, presidential style.
Eyebrows might have been raised at the thought of the president, any president, high-tailing it out of Washington, without his family, for some "me time" hundreds of miles away from the Oval Office. First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha are on an annual, President's Day weekend ski vacation out West.
As it turns out, a president going on vacation alone isn't all that uncommon.
And, Obama has taken "vacations for one" in the past, too.
RELATED: OBAMA AWARDS CIVILIAN HONORS TO NEWTOWN FAMILIES
During the weekend, Obama ? an avid golfer ? was expected to take full advantage of the club's private, 18-hole regulation golf course, which opened in 1996 and is owned by Jim Crane, a Houston businessman who also owns Major League Baseball's Astros, according to golfnow.com.
"A quiet weekend of golf," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
The president was not expected to leave the private club, which fronts the St. Lucie River, until he heads back to Washington. Members of the club and their guests have access to one of eight cottages, a 68-slip deep water marina, the club's 61-foot Viking yacht, a 24-foot Hurricane Deck Boat and the club's private helicopter service with two on-site helipads.
The White House arranged for the reporters who travel with the president to stay at a hotel in Port St. Lucie, about a 20-minute drive away from Palm City. They were not expected to see the president until it's time for the return trip home.
Obama's longtime buddy from Chicago, Eric Whitaker, joined him aboard Air Force One for the trip from Chicago to Florida. The two have played golf together in the past. Another regular member of Obama's golf foursomes is White House trip director Marvin Nicholson, who also traveled with the president on Friday.
America's presidents have been taking solo vacations for decades, according to Larry Knutson, a former White House reporter for The Associated Press who wrote a book about presidents and their vacations.
RELATED: OBAMAS TAKE SEPARATE VACATION JAUNTS
Although Bess and Margaret Truman visited him there just a couple of times, Harry Truman vacationed most often by himself in tropical Key West, Fla. Many aides, all men, accompanied him.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nydnrss/new-york/~3/GU6zRHBGlBM/story01.htm
Newton Shooting Newtown Shooting Gangnam Style Ryan Lanza Sandy Hook justin bieber kanye west
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.