Kicking off their yearly vacation and mindful of Republicans talking about the so-called wasteful spending of the current administration, President Obama and his family left Air Force One on the tarmac and took a Greyhound bus to Martha’s Vineyard.

The regularly scheduled bus left its D.C. terminal on time and with about a dozen regular passengers who did not go through the usual stringent Secret Service screening process, but were simply ‘eyeballed’ by the Secret Service and quickly ushered aboard. In deference to his position, the President’s family occupied the back 6 rows of the bus, closest to the bathroom. Instead of a motorcade,

There was not even a formal press contingent, but Isaac Fromstein, the travel and vacation writer for Examiner.com was invited to accompany the Presidential party. His twitter account reported that three stops were made during the bus ride including a meet and greet at the New Jersey Turnpike’s Molly Pitcher Service Area during a stop for Nathan’s hot dogs.

Upon arrival at Chilmark, the town that is clearly their favored vacation spot on Martha’s Vineyard, the first family will occupy a private residence 2 blocks from the beach. After spotting the place on http://www.homeexchange.com Michelle Obama called the Smith family who were more than willing to stay in the White House for the 2 weeks. “It’s like a dream” Mrs Smith said, “We’ve never been to Washington and now we get to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom and didn’t have to donate $50,000 to a re-election campaign. Michelle was so nice on the phone, so I told her to not bother washing the linens when they leave.”

To save additional expenses, the elaborate security preparations that precede a presidential visit were not strictly followed. The Secret Service merely called the ‘town gossip’, a Mrs. Van Wicke and asked if there was anyone they should watch out for.

Wong’s Buffet graciously allowed the Obama’s the use of their private dining room in spite of the fact that Mrs. Bergman had already left a deposit for that Sunday. “We’re a little put out here”, Mrs Bergman explained to anyone who would listen, “my Mah Jongg group doesn’t get together that often, and the spare ribs are to die for. We can’t move it to the next week, because Mrs. Goldstein will be too busy. Her nephews are coming over from college and she needs to start cooking some chicken soup, Kugel, and a couple pounds of Gribenes. Do you know how skinny they are?”