Obamas arrive in Hawaii for Christmas vacation

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President Obama touched down today at Hickham Field at a Honolulu Air Force Base, kicking off a family vacation.

‘Happy holidays,’ he said to a crowd of military personnel and their families, who met him with a cheer and waited as he shook hands, held babies and signed autographs.

Since the president’s inauguration, this is his first visit to the state where he was born and attended high school.

Local dignitaries greeted Obama too, including Gov. Linda Lingle, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. They presented the president, first lady, and daughters Sasha and Malia with leis, a traditional Hawaiian greeting.

Obama’s arrival proved smoother than his stateside departure. While walking onto the plane at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, the president offered his hand to an Air Force serviceman — who was saluting him and couldn’t break the salute. Obama hovered for a few seconds before moving on.

The Obamas are staying in a private beach residence in the Oahu neighborhood of Kailua, on a cove about 30 minutes from downtown Honolulu. Perched on a small cliff, the house looks out on a calm blue sea and a few scattered islands. The Secret Service closed streets near the residence in preparation for the president’s arrival.

His visit has created some excitement on Oahu, where Obama was born and lived with his grandparents while he attended Punahou School. During last year’s visit, before taking office, Obama and his family were treated like celebrities, with pictures of them eating shave ice and bodysurfing popping up in national magazines.

This year, some Oahu residents lined the streets along the route of the presidential motorcade, holding signs of welcome and taking pictures. But others weren’t so friendly: A group in front of a restaurant near Kailua had spelled out ‘End U.S. Occupation of Hawaii.’

For some Kailua residents, the president’s visit is exciting but disappointing: A local tradition, surfing on Christmas morning, is off-limits, said Deidre Sargeant, a Kailua resident with two young daughters. The family has been told that the end of the beach near the Obamas’ rented house will be closed to the public, and that’s the area with the surfable waves, Sargeant said.

‘Last year they let us paddle into the water,’ she said as her daughters poured sand in each other’s hair. ‘This year we can’t surf at all.’

For Sandra Hayes of Oklahoma, the president’s stay is a bonus. Hayes and 15 members of her family are spending Christmas here — and sharing the beach with the Obamas. When she rented the house more than a year ago, she had no idea she’d be so lucky.

Now, she’s adding another event to her surfing, kayaking and sunbathing vacation.

‘We’ll be looking around for him with our cameras out,’ she said.

— Alana Semuels