My Day with a President

I was recently on Martha's Vineyard. I have travelled and vacationed on this island on a regular basis since I was seven years old. My time spent there is low key, and passes with little fan fare (OK, when I was 12, I was in a game room with Carly Simon, ten minutes before my Mom busted me for chewing gum while I still had braces.....but I digress). This time, however, I felt something different about my trip! Why? Because we were there at the same time as President Obama and his family.

Now, I really don't care how anyone feels about Obama as a politician or person. I am not writing this to debate politics. But one thing I will say is that no matter who is president, I still think there is something thrilling about the prospect of seeing a President, or even meeting them.

Having been on vacation 10 days prior to our excursion to MV, I was blissfully unaware of the fact the the Obamas were vacationing on MV. News and TV are not something I entertain while I vacation. I learned this VIA Facebook thru a friends status update. I was shocked that I would be sharing the Island with the first family, and I was completely annoyed. The thought of the inconvenience I might have to endure on my one day on MV bc of the Obamas was devastating. What if Sasha and Malia decide they want to ride Flying Horses when my kids do, my children would never forgive!

Once we arrived on Martha's Vineyard, I automatically went into Presidential Hysteria! I had to learn everything about his trip from as many people as possible. I wanted to know where he had been, what he was doing, and where he was going. I have no idea how this happened. Our first stop was the drugstore to pick up some things we forgot to bring with us. I asked the cashier, "Did you see him" (no explanation needed)....I was then given a gem of a story, in a local BAH-ston accent, about how her friend lives down the street and the she was going to visit her after work, and the Secret Service was turning everyone away from the road! But not Dottie! She told those Secret Service man where to shove it, that she was going to see her friend Mary, and no one was stopping her. The Secret Service let her pass, of course.

Everywhere I went, I asked people, "Did you see him?". I heard he was at the light house, stories of the motorcade, he was off to BAH-ston the next day to eulogize Ted "I killed a Mary K" Kennedy. I joked with the woman in the needlepoint store that Michelle Obama actually does have time to needlepoint, she just doesn't know it (the needlepoint lady loved the banter) After I was sufficiently satisfied in the answers I gathered, I sat down to relax for a day at the beach at Menemsha. I started to read, but couldn't concentrate, so I dropped my book to work on my needlepoint. My mind started racing............My thoughts were as follows (warning: you are entering my insane stream of consciousness):

I just drove by Chillmark, and that is only a couple of miles away/the Obama's are only a couple of miles away/the Obama's are not on a private beach, are they?/this would be the perfect beach to take the kids: small, off the main track, few people so Obama wouldn't be disturbing too many people/secret service would have an easy time keeping him protected here/I bet he's headed straight for this beach today/Obama can't leave Martha's Vineyard without having Fried Mac and Cheese from The Bite/would his personal chef be insulted if he ate at The Bite?/He's definitely coming here/I know it/He has to go to The Bite/He's coming right to my Beach/OH SHIT, what would I say when he shakes my hand??/What's my main issue? Do I be funny? Bring up serious political issues?? What do you say when you meet the president??/Hmmmm, what's my issue, what's my issue, what's my issue??/He's raising my taxes, do I want to hassle him on his vacation?NAH/Ok, what's my issue??!! I know!!! This has bothered me my ENTIRE adult life, and I am really disappointed on the President's stance on this, I will tell him I don't like his stance on Gay Rights and Gay Marriage, yeah, I know a lot about that issue, I can speak intelligently about it, really stick it to him in a nice way/oh, wait, what if he's taking the girls to FLYING HORSES?? I have to ask him about that too!/Hmmm, Gay Marriage? Flying horses? Gay Marriage/Flying horses?

Well, you get the idea how crazy I am, right? I mean, I am stitching away, and these are my inner thoughts. I decided right there and then I was going to ask Obama why he only believes in Civil Unions, and not marriage for gays, and I was going to insist he not take his daughters to Flying Horses until we left the island! I was geared up and ready! I then asked my husband if he was ready for our meeting with the President! He looked at me like I was nuts, a total non-sequitor from getting mussels and jellyfish out of the water with the kids....hadn't he heard all my inner-thoughts? I was making total sense, TO MYSELF !!!

Anyway, he has issues, and his are more poignant than mine. Mine were a failure, he would get to do all the talking.....but the time was ticking away. There was no sign of him anywhere! An occasional Coast Guard boat went by the beach, but I didn't spy any plain clothed secret service, you know the ones with that doo-hickey in their ears? It was then I realized that I might not get to meet the first family.

By 4 o'clock, I had not given up hope. I decided I would be satisfied if I could AT LEAST see the motorcade. He was in a black SUV Suburban, not a limo, and that would be exciting. My sister reminded me (via facebook) of the time in 1977 when we were in DC and Jimmy Carter's motorcade blew past us. We snapped a photo and have a blurry shot of his hand waving from inside his limo. YES!! A motorcade would be very exciting and my kids would be thrilled as I was when I was 7!

I then showered in Menemsha, and my insane thoughts continued. What if the motorcade came down the dock while I was in my paid, timed shower? Would I run out with a towel on just to see? How would I get a proper photo? What if my kids were still in their shower in the men's room and miss the whole thing? Would I even hear the motorcade from a shower (I decided yes) ? And what if I ran out with wet hair in a towel, would the Paps sack a photo with the headline "Crazy Obama Vineyard fever: woman runs out of shower just to see the motorcade" !! I would be that crazy woman and get to tell all my friends who would laugh and laugh and laugh at this for days! But my 12 minute shower ended, and there was no motorcade.

In fact, I didn't see the motorcade once. As we left Menemsha and headed towards Vineyard Haven for dinner, we pass the road in Chillmark where the Obamas were staying. It was blocked by State Police. That was the only bru-ha-ha we got the whole day! No conversation, hand shaking, no motorcade.

After dinner we headed to Flying Horses for one last thrill before we got back on the 8:30 PM ferry to Woodshole. At this point, I KNEW my wish had come true. No Sasha, No Malia, no fanfare.....my kids would get to ride the carousel, try for the brass ring, eat their cotton candy, and the first family were not going to disturb this special treat. My thoughts and fantasies about meeting the president quickly disappeared. My day was done and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The one thing I took away from all of this is that you should always be prepared to meet a US President, you never know when it might happen (or not)!