Tag: Presidential Travel

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Obama Heads Down Under, Picks Up Some Uggs for Malia and Sasha

Where: Australia
November 17, 2011 at 9:05 AM | by | Comments (0)

After a couple of failed trips, Air Force One finally crossed the international dateline from Hawaii to Australia, touching down in the capital city, Canberra. Barack Obama became only the fourth US President to visit the Land Down Under this week right on the heels of Queen Elizabeth's royal tour.

While this was a much shorter visit than the Monarch, it marked the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty, a defense treaty between the US, Australia and New Zealand. Obama even got a bonus opportunity to strengthen the friendship between himself and Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister

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A 9-Foot-Tall Ronald Reagan Will Watch You Run for Your Flight at DCA

November 7, 2011 at 2:15 PM | by | Comments (0)

Get ready to wave at—or high-five—former President Ronald Reagan on your way to and from the airport this holiday season.

Reagan National Airport in DC has just added a nine-foot-tall bronze statue outside the entrance to the airport. Just in case you’re not too familiar with presidential history—he wasn’t really that tall. Anyway, this is like the fourth likeness of the former president dedicated this year, as 2011 is the 100th anniversary of his birth.

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President Obama Gives In to the Touristy Side of Dublin, Ireland

May 24, 2011 at 4:35 PM | by | Comment (1)

What's the single most stereotypical thing you can think of doing as a tourist in Dublin, Ireland? The odds are pretty great that your answers has something to do with either drinking or tracing your Irish roots. The good news is, President Barack Obama thinks the same way and spent his official visit to Ireland over the weekend throwing back Guinness and visiting distant relatives. Of course he also met with government officials and gave a speech to over 25,000 people, but all that has been overshadows by the beer clink heard 'round the world.

Ireland was the first stop on Obama's six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. He followed it up by calling on Queen Elizabeth in London, and will round out his tour by rolling into France and Poland for more official political meetings. Michelle is actually along on this trip—that's her little Guinness up in the left of the above photo—and while Barack is busy at the Group of 8 meeting in France, we hope MObama has enough time for a toast of her own; a little "a votre sante" and Côtes du Rhône.

[Photo: AP]

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Now That He's Got a 757, Who Wants to Buy Donald Trump's Old 727?

April 27, 2011 at 10:12 AM | by | Comments (0)


This is Trump's old 727. See link below for a pic of the 757

Donald Trump won't be on the set of Celebrity Apprentice or even at New York's Trump Tower today; he's off in New Hampshire meeting with the GOP regarding his pet idea to run for president on the Republican ticket. According to PBS, Trump's transportation of choice to Portsmouth was a helicopter—

What he's flying is really the only topic we really care about when it comes to Trump, especially since the last month has seen him upgrade from his Boeing 727 to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's old Boeing 757. The Donald paid $100 million for the used plane, a sum which the Magellan Jets Blog calls "extremely high," but counters that it's believed Allen's 757 comes fully loaded with "all kinds of bells and whistles, ranging from a state-of-the-art entertainment system to the most advance flight avionics."

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President Obama's NYC Helicopter Cavalcade Hovers Over the Harbor

April 7, 2011 at 10:49 AM | by | Comments (0)


Two Chinooks leave the heliport, with the Staten Island Ferry in background

One of the main roadways has been closed off by a police barricade during evening rush hour, emergency vehicle lights are flashing all over the crowded downtown business district and the river nearby is teeming with police boats, their blue lights echoing the red ones on land. What the heck is going on?! In New York City, there are a few quick assumptions you can make, surely one of which is that President Obama is in town, and with that you'd be correct.

This is what went down yesterday evening, as we took advantage of a gloomy, cold day to be the only ones strolling through the newish Brooklyn Bridge Park, directly across the East River from Wall Street and the Wall Street Heliport. It's a cute little heliport right on the water, one which we've flown from before, but a few years back when $99 8-minute chopper flights to JFK operated several times a day.

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The Obamas' Annual Trip to the Hawaiian Islands is Going Swimmingly

December 29, 2010 at 1:21 PM | by | Comments (2)

While most of us are stuck digging out from this year’s Snowpocalypse, President Obama and his family are enjoying a little rest and relaxation in his home state of Hawaii—jealous. He’s a couple years into his term and this Hawaiian holiday is sort of a tradition, so if you want to hang with the president in 2011 you might want to start making plans now. Unfortunately, it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll run into him, but if you want to try, here's where has been sharing a little bit of aloha.

Presidential family and friends were snorkeling in Oahu’s famous Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve earlier this week, but don’t expect any new shirtless photos to emerge. The press were specifically told to keep their distance, so there won’t be any other TMZ moments for the president or members of his crew. We’re hoping that Sasha and Malia were able to see a couple of turtles when they were swimming around, as we’ve been able to spot a couple on a past trip to the stunning snorkeling spot.

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Take the Whirlwind Obama Tour of Asia

November 16, 2010 at 12:04 PM | by | Comments (0)

President Barack Obama has just had quite the whirlwind travel weekend, hopping and skipping from Japan to Singapore to China to South Korea in a matter of only a few days and yet he managed to fit in a few cultural stops in amongst all the flying and diplomatic handshakes. Most of the time, the sightseeing came with a required speech or a luncheon with a world leader, but still we're pretty jealous of all the places he got to go. We've listed the touristy places he visited below, just in case you'd like to take your own Obama Tour of Asia:

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Obama's Long, Busy Weekend in India Included the Gandhi Museum

Where: Mumbai, India
November 8, 2010 at 10:27 AM | by | Comments (0)

Despite that whole $200 million/day vacation trip myth clouding President Obama's visit to India this weekend, it looks as though the brief stop in Mumbai went off without a hitch. Mr. and Mrs. Obama arrived to India for a 3-day stop as part of an Asian tour to talk foreign economic relations.

Hopefully they caught some Zzzs onboard Air Force One, because over the weekend while in both New Delhi and Mumbai, they dropped by the Holy Name High School and another elementary and college for Diwali celebrations, Humayan's Tomb (pictured above) for some sightseeing, Mumbai's port for a speech, and Mani Bhawan Gandhi Museum (for Barack) and Kamathipura (for Michelle) for goodwill. On top of all this, the pair stayed at the Taj Mahal Hotel, where they visited the memorial to those killed in the terrorist attacks on hotels almost exactly two years ago.

Today, Barack will address Indian parliament before flying off to his next stop, Indonesia. The next week will also see the Obamas landing in South Korea and Japan.

[Photo: AFP/Getty]

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How Much Was Your Last Vacation? Obama's Mumbai Day Trip to Cost Millions

Where: Mumbai, India
November 4, 2010 at 2:26 PM | by | Comments (2)

[Update 10am November 5] It is finally coming out that the $200 million pricetag is "wildly inflated, " says the White House and that the original press release that communicated these numbers was based solely on an unverified statement by an Indian provincial official. Anderson Cooper on CNN delves into the report and states that the White House is not releasing numbers for security reasons, however, in the 90s, President Clinton's visited 6 African countries to the tune of $5 million per day (inflation adjusted), so one way to guesstimate the cost of this India trip is to extrapolate from the cost of Clinton's trip. Remember, at the end of the day, we are all still guessing at the number until it is officially released.
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We hope you aren't planning on traveling to Mumbai, India this weekend, as President Obama is planning to visit the city for a whopping 24 hours, during which time Mumbai air space will be shut down for periods and the city will be on heavy alert. In fact, with all the needed security, the accommodations and the full media and tactical teams that are accompanying the prez, the cost of Obama's little daytrip to india has the heart attack pricetag of $200 million dollars [new reports show that this figure is a guess made by an Indian official, see above].

That makes the Maldives 5-star bungalow vacations of celebs look like child's play and in effect, it is. $200 million is getting Obama a suite at the renowned Taj Hotel, plus his usual Air Force One flight and all of the greased palms that it requires to make the state visit go over without incident. Barack is heading to Mumbai to talk economic foreign relations.

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LBJ's Old 'Air Force One-Half' Plane Now on Display in Texas

September 2, 2010 at 9:04 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s no secret that we have a thing for airplanes, but our love for the flying contraptions goes beyond the typical commercial planes. That’s why we’re glad to know one pretty important plane has been rescued from an airplane graveyard in the desert and restored to its former glory. This plane is a Lockheed JetStar that served as Air Force One at times for President Lyndon Johnson.

The plane was often used to whisk the President where he needed to be if he was coming and going from his Western White House in Texas, and The National Park Service is getting the plane just in time for what would have been LBJ’s 102nd birthday.

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President Obama to Go Straight from Martha's Vineyard to New Orleans

August 26, 2010 at 9:45 AM | by | Comments (0)


Obama onboard a plane in New Orleans in 2008

While President Obama is about to take off from a quickie vacation with his family in Martha's Vineyard, New Orleans is prepping for his landing. Barack is headed to the Big Easy this Sunday in order to give the proper gravity to the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

No po' boys or shrimp gumbo tastings for him, however. It'll be all business as included in the fun will be Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

The focus of his visit is to inspect the infrastructure of the city since the hurricane hit. New systems of levees and flood walls are supposedly protecting the city like never before, and New Orleans is working on becoming a top tourist destination once again.

[Photo: AP/The Swamp]

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Michelle and Sasha Obama Go to Spain for Palaces, Paella and a Royal Meeting

Where: Marbella, Spain
August 4, 2010 at 8:31 AM | by | Comments (0)

'Tis the season for "girlfriend getaways" and mother-daughter bonding trips, except we really loathe that former term. Down in DC, the Obama girls are getting restless, since they're last few quick trips have been domestic, to Maine and Asheville, NC. So while daddy continues to wrestle with the BP oil spill and much more, Michelle has taken their youngest daughter Sasha to Marbella, Spain for a 4-day vacation.

Although Barack isn't joining them, Spain's Costa del Sol is still beside themselves with happiness over the presidential family visit and rolling out the red carpet. The girls are staying at the $2,500+ per night Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton property with private pools and a palatial presence perfect for entrancing little girls. “This is a bonding trip between mother and daughter," says the US Embassy in Madrid, but there will be a proper royal visit made to King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on Mallorca.

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