Obama Family Skips Summer Vacation

Although they've gone for the past three years, the Obama family will not be visiting Martha's vinyard for a vacation this summer.

"The word I have is that they are not coming this year,” said Sergeant Thomas Medeiros of the State Police. He told the Boston Globe that the notice came from the Secret Service.

The Huffington Post reports that the 28-acre rental home on the waterfront in Chilmark, also known as the "Summer White House," was listed by Wallace & Co. and Sotheby's International Realty for $23.7 million. The estate was put up for sale last summer by the owner of the property at the time, William Van Devender. The grounds include two full-size homes, a pool with a view of the water, equestrian facilities, a tennis court, and a basketball court.

With 2012 being a tense election year -- campaigns are starting to revv up -- it's not surprising that the First Family would forego a pleasure trip. Two years ago, the Obamas were criticized for a trip to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor in Maine that lasted three days, and during a family get-away to Martha's Vinyard last summer, commenters to suggested that the president was spending his time with the financially priviledged while the national economy was struggling.

A presidential vacation takes its toll on the locals. The Globe explains that meals get interrupted by secret service agents, golf games (and presumably other recreational activities) are difficult to book, and traffic caused by the POTUS motorcade can be frustraiting. Yet, there's an upside to such high-profile clientele, and it will be notably absent this summer. "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.