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As the holidays unfold, The Ticket's thoughts turn to some time off.
So we're re-publishing some of our favorite or most-read items from
2009. This item originally appeared on Aug. 7.

President Obama,
his family and their dog are all going to Martha's Vineyard this month
for their summer vacation, and word is they're renting a luxury estate
– from a Republican.

The White House won't confirm the rental
location for security reasons. That hasn't stopped the Vineyard
Gazette, the resort island’s journal of record since 1864, from
reporting that
the Obamas have chosen the 28-acre bucolic Blue Heron Farm, in Chilmark.

The
owners: William and Mollie Van Devender, who bought the property in
2005 for $20.35 million. A Mississippi timber executive, William Van
Devender gave $2,300, the maximum financial
donation allowed under federal law, to Arizona Republican John McCain in last year’s campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Both Van Devenders contributed to Tennessee Republican (and actor) Fred
Thompson during his unsuccessful run in the presidential primary.

Insiders say the rental agreement includes three separate leases: one for the Obamas –  who insisted on paying out of their own pockets — one for the Secret Service and
a third for the large White House entourage accompanying the president.

Locals
say the Obamas initially focused their holiday research on Oak Bluffs,
a Vineyard neighborhood where they've vacationed before and where a
number of wealthy African American friends have summer homes, including
Henry Louis
Gates Jr.

Gates
is the Harvard professor whose arrest after breaking in to his
own house in Cambridge, Mass., led Obama to say the police "acted
stupidly," a remark he later softened by inviting Gates and arresting Sgt. James Crowley to the White House for a much-photographed beer "summit."

But apparently everyone decided that a presidential stay in Oak Bluffs would cause traffic jams.

Instead, although First Lady Michelle Obama and
the girls might come earlier and stay with friends elsewhere on the
island, they'll meet up at Blue Heron when the president arrives.

Likely
attractions for the president: a swimming pool, private access to
Squibnocket Beach, a private dock with kayaks and a yacht, a golf
practice range and, if that weren't enough, a basketball court.

– Johanna Neuman

Photo: Barack Obama with daughters Malia and Sasha in Kailua, Hawaii, last August, when he was still a candidate. Credit: Marco Garcia / Associated Press

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