August 23, 2009, 4:33 pm
By Jeff Zeleny
VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. — President Obama and his family arrived here Sunday afternoon, stepping off a helicopter under a clear, blue sky as they opened an eight-day vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.
There was no sign of Bill — Hurricane Bill, that is — awaiting the president, who delayed his trip from Washington by four hours to avoid rain and winds.
Dozens of people lined the roads from the airport, waving and snapping pictures as the first family rode by in a long motorcade. There were kids, along with a few adults, sitting atop vans and convertibles, in hopes of catching a better view of the island visitors.
“Aloha Obama Family,” read one sign along the small and clogged roadway.
For the next week, the Obamas will be among the thousands of summertime visitors to this small Massachusetts island. The president has no public events on his schedule, aides said, and intends to spend his time golfing, swimming and relaxing with his family and a small group of friends and relatives who accompanied him here.
Bill Burton, a deputy White House press secretary, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had “specific instructions from the president for the press corps.”
“He wants you to relax,” said Mr. Burton, heeding the advice himself, as he wore sandals with his sport coat. “Have a good time, take some walks on the beaches. Nobody’s looking to make any news.”
Mr. Burton said there were no plans for the president to visit Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who is suffering from brain cancer, in nearby Hyannis Port.
And, Mr. Burton said, the suggestion that the president will go golfing with Tiger Woods during the vacation was simply “a bad rumor.”
The Obama family is spending the week in the town of Chilmark at “Blue Heron Farm,” a sprawling rental that sits on a pond at the end of a secluded path. The president is scheduled to return to Washington next Sunday.
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