President Barack Obama and his family are set to escape Washington and head for Honolulu on Friday for their final holiday vacation as first family, the White House confirmed.
During their time in the White House, the Obamas have spent every Christmas on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where Obama spent much of his childhood.
The Obamas are creatures of habit during their Hawaii vacations, usually staying in the sleepy town of Kailua ― about a 45-minute drive from the bustling tourist area of Waikiki. In the past, their rental homes have been the epitome of laid-back luxury.
The U.S. Coast Guard has set up a temporary security zone in Kailua, in effect from Friday morning until Jan. 2, according to Hawaii News Now.
The first family’s activities of choice while in the Aloha State typically include golfing, enjoying Oahu’s beaches, dining at favorite restaurants, such as Alan Wong’s, and eating shave ice at Island Snow in Kailua.
The vacation will also be historic. Obama will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after Christmas to visit Pearl Harbor and remember victims of Japan’s attack 75 years ago. Abe will be the first incumbent Japanese prime minister to visit the site.
“This will be a visit to console the souls of the victims,” Abe told reporters this month.
Abe’s Pearl Harbor visit comes after Obama visited Hiroshima in May to mourn the thousands killed by a U.S. atomic bomb in 1945. Obama, the first incumbent U.S. president to visit the site, took the opportunity to call for an end to nuclear arms.
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