President Obama tours the beach in Pensacola on a previous visit to the Gulf.
by Mike Memoli
Last month the White House announced that the first family would visit the Gulf of Mexico for a vacation. It's a trip, as Christi Parsons reported at the time, intended in part to "help ward off criticism that, while the president encourages others to go to the Gulf, he will spend his vacation among the elite set on the island of Martha's Vineyard."
The White House has just sent new details of that trip, revealing that the Obama family will have spent barely more than one day in the area when all is said and done. That trip will include a roundtable discussion between the president and first lady with small business owners about the pace of recovery. Obama will also make a public statement.
"They both believed that it was important to highlight that, indeed, the Gulf Coast is, during a busy summer, open for business and the families that are there are enjoying their time there," press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters in response to questions about the short nature of the trip. "You'll see he and the family out there. You'll see all of them out there."
From scheduled arrival of Air Force One Saturday to the time it departs on Sunday, the Obamas will have spent 26 hours and 50 minutes on the ground in the Panama City area.
