It looks like the Obamas are going to be doing more work than play this summer, forgoing their annual retreat to Martha's Vineyard, the Boston Globe reports.
Residents of the Vineyard can look forward to a reprieve from the presidential motorcades that have occupied the otherwise quaint New England island for the past three years.
"The word I have is that they are not coming this year,” State Police Sergeant Thomas Medeiros confirmed to the Globe. Medeiros added that the notice came from the Secret Service.
Questions about the First Family's 28-acre waterfront rental estate in Chilmark began to swirl after the Obamas' vacation last August, when the property was put up for sale by its then-owner, Republican businessman William Van Devender.
The home, also known as the "Summer White House," was listed by Wallace & Co. and Sotheby's International Realty for $23.7 million and reportedly includes two full-size homes, equestrian facilities and numerous recreational amenities, such as waterview pool area, tennis court, par 3 golf hole and basketball court.
According to the Globe, the Chilmark estate has since been sold to a British couple.
The White House declined the comment on the Obamas' vacation plans, but the increasingly heated presidential race and upcoming Democratic National Convention are undoubtedly where the family's priorities lie.
In 2010, the Obamas were criticized first for a brief, three-day getaway to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, on Mount Desert Island in Maine, one of three trips POTUS took following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April of that year.
Last year, the Obamas' August retreat on Martha's Vineyard sparked criticism from conservative commentators who claimed the president was vacationing among the elite even as the national economy continued to suffer.
Nevertheless, some Vineyard residents are disappointed to see the First Family skip its annual vacation. "I think the fun and the curiosity and the buzz that comes with this will be missed, quite frankly," said Nancy Gardella, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce. “He usually comes in with a large group, and they order a wide variety off the menu and kind of share that -- lobster rolls, fried clams, practically one of everything," she added of Obama and his entourage.
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