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WEST TISBURY, Mass. — President Barack Obama spent his last day on a Martha's Vineyard vacation buying ice cream treats at a general store and a cookie at a nearby deli. Obama and his daughters took a quick Sunday morning trip to Alley's General Store. Wearing a White Sox cap and jeans, the president made an unscheduled stop at the small village just up the street from his rented Chilmark farm. The jaunt was one of the few times reporters have seen the president in public with his daughters.

President Barack Obama and his family spent more than two hours at a private beach Wednesday and then he grabbed two big bags of fried seafood for lunch. Obama visited the beach with his family after making brief remarks outside his rented compound on Martha's Vineyard about the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy. Obama visited the Oyster Watcha beach with first lady Michelle Obama, his two young daughters and family friends. His motorcade then drove to downtown Oak Bluffs for fried seafood, including calamari, scallops, shrimp and clam strips.

President Barack Obama watches his putt on the ninth green while playing golf at Mink Meadows Golf Club, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009, in Vineyard Haven, Mass. Where's the thunder storm when you need it?

On Martha's Vineyard, it's golf today with the first lady and friends. Tomorrow, more golf. A pile of books to read. In between, the Fed chief is renominated. Then it's back to relaxing.It's just your average vacation schedule -- a little reading, a little tennis and golf, a little briefing from the National Security Council. But even though he has advisors in tow at the island resort of Martha's Vineyard this week, President Obama insists he is planning more relaxation than work. And his schedule so far suggests he is serious about holing up with his family. On Monday,...

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Eric Holder named federal prosecutor John Durham to investigate alleged CIA mistreatment of terrorism suspects overseas during the Bush administration. Mr. Durham is currently investigating the destruction of videotapes made of certain CIA interrogations of detainees. He will now also be tasked with probing whether CIA officers or contractors broke any laws with their use of harsh tactics. The decision comes on the day the Justice Department released a long-awaited report from the Central Intelligence Agency's inspector general, as well as several hundred pages of additional documents on the CIA's interrogation program. The report says one...

Heard this AM on the Michael Graham show, WTKK. Haven't seen posted elsewhere. Obama and his lovely bride have created a Romulan Neutral Zone around themselves while on "Marxist Vineyard." Accordingly, as tourists tried to get within eyesight of the Obamas and their girls having hamburgers at a restaurant, the Secret Service confiscated all cell phones and cameras from everyone in and near the restaurant so that The Royal Couple was not disturbed by the riff raff on the Island. Further, the cook at the restaurant -- some sort of minor celebrity -- had to make the hamburgers, fries, and...

Here is video shot by CBS News producer Rob Hendin on Martha's Vineyard where he showed how the island is decked out with Obama memorabilia and hysteria for President Obama and family to vacation there this week. They are even selling a "Cup of Joe Biden" for 95 cents. Do you think Obama would pay that much for him right now? . . . . (Watch Video)

<p>EDGARTOWN - The Obama White House, like administrations before it, has gone to great lengths to accommodate the press corps traveling with the president on his first official vacation in office. Staffers arranged for a filing center at a local school, assembled “pools’’ of reporters to tail the president if he goes out, and promised to brief the press daily.</p>

CHILMARK, Mass. – President Barack Obama and his family began a weeklong vacation on this Massachusetts island with a message to the reporters who have crowded the New England villages: Chill out and don't expect much. Pleading for privacy, the White House said Obama would have no public events while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard with his family and close friends. Aides also asked that the journalists not take pictures of the Obamas' two young daughters, age 8 and 11, when they aren't with the president. "He wants you to relax and have a good time. Take some walks on the...

Barack Obama began a family holiday on Martha’s Vineyard yesterday, taking care to duck a politically risky photo op of his arrival on the wealthy summer retreat lampooned as a “liberal lido”. The White House allowed cameras to record the Obama family’s arrival in Air Force One at Otis Air Force Base on nearby Cape Cod, but refused to permit coverage of the Obamas landing by helicopter on the island. Conservatives have mocked Mr Obama’s choice of the Democrat-dominated resort off the Masschusetts coast for his week-long holiday. A group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights has spent $150,000 to run...

Martha's Vineyard has six townships - three built-up and three rural. Chilmark - Popular with Wall Streeters and Washington types, but also entertainers. Musician James Taylor, comic Larry David, and actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have homes. Singer Beyoncé stays here. So, for this week only, do the Obamas. Edgartown - Yachties and more conservative types, including CIA chiefs, staqy here. The late Walter Cronkite and Robert McNamara, the US defence secretary, had houses. David Letterman's estate is out of town and Meg Ryan is in nearby Chappaquiddick. Vineyard Haven - Includes the old money bastion of West Chop...

An Obama Family Vacation at Martha's Vineyard [Pics of Family in URL] No staycation for the first family, who plan some private time-off at 28-acre Blue Heron Farm. Still, the president won't pause in his work on healthcare reform. The president, First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters are set to spend the week at the well-appointed Blue Heron Farm, a private estate they are renting from a family of Republican political donors. Christi Parsons August 23, 2009 Reporting from Providence, R.I. - President Obama heads to the island resort of Martha's Vineyard today for a family vacation likely...

Is reported previously, the FAA had issued a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) for Cape Code and the islands because of Obama's vacation on the Vineyard. Unlike TFRs issued for Bush when he went on vacation that typically had a 3-10 mile radius, Obama's had a 30 mile radius, shutting-down half a dozen small airports in the area during one of their busiest business weeks of the season. Apparently, that wasn't enough Royal Obama Airspace. The EFR was extended even further out, closing small airports out to forty miles, including Falmouth Airpark, Cape Cod Airport, Barnstable Municipal-Boardman/Polando Field, Marthas Vineyard, Katama...

As the health care debate rages on, President Barack Obama will begin a week-long vacation Sunday in Martha’s Vineyard, an enclave of liberal royalty far from middle America, where his approval numbers are starting to stall. Already, at least one group on the right is taking a jab at Obama over his beach vacation — at a 28-acre farm, said to rent for up to $50,000 a week. Obama has struggled against the perception that he has trouble connecting with average voters, and some are questioning his choice of a getaway spot for the well-to-do. “The danger for President Obama...

I would hate to be in the national spotlight when it comes to fashion — and I am submerged 24/7 in the field, as a fashion writer and representative for designers. The Obamas? They're under the media equivalent of an electron microscope. The president and first lady generally get high marks for their formal apparel. But when it comes to dressing down, the chief executive scores in the basement. Witness his "frumpy" dad jeans at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game last month. Michelle carries off casual with her usual flair — even if the thigh-baring shorts she sported earlier...

Anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan is traveling to Martha's Vineyard to demonstrate as President Barack Obama and his family vacation on the island. According to her website, Sheehan will join "other like-minded peace activists" to bring her cause to the attention of the President. The President and his family are scheduled to arrive Sunday at the Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark.

WASHINGTON -- DC is scorching hot, his health-care plan is on the rocks, and President Obama is decamping to Martha's Vineyard for his first-ever presidential vacation, which the White House called "well earned." After a month when his public-approval ratings took a dive, Obama flew to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., yesterday to start his 10-day getaway. He was scheduled to fly to the Vineyard tomorrow. There were reports that First Lady Michelle Obama and their children were already there. Obama has rented the luxurious, 28-acre Blue Heron farm, paying rent of more than $25,000 out of his...