WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama ended his 12-day vacation in sunny Hawaii late Thursday, flying back to his home in wintry Chicago briefly before he and his family begin a series of brief sejours that will eventually bring them to the White House.
The President-elect and his family will check into historic Hay-Adams Hotel on Sunday so that Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, can begin classes at Sidwell Friends School on Monday after the winter break. The family is making the move 10 days earlier than the traditional date in order to get the kids into class.
The Hay Adams Hotel is located in Lafayette Square, just across the street from the White House.
The five-star landmark 145-room Italian Renaissance style hotel is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Clover Adams, the wife of acclaimed author and descendant of two US presidents, who committed suicide in 1885.
The Obamas were hoping to stay in the Blair House, an official government guest residence across from the White House but they were told by the Bushes that the house was all booked up until Jan. 15th, five days before the president-elect is sworn into office as the nation's first African-American commander-in-chief.
The White House insisted this weekend that official protocol does not require the White House to hand over the keys to Blair House until five days before the inauguration date. The story has garnered front-page coverage in many US papers.
In a statement, Sally McDonough, a press aide to the current First Lady, accused reporters of "trying to make a story out of something that is not a story."
The 119-room Blair House is reportedly booked with people attending parties the outgoing Bush Administration was throwing for itself.
The building, directly across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, dates to 1824, and has served as the official presidential guesthouse since 1942 for heads of state and other foreign dignitaries.
The Democratic-led Congress will begin its session on Tuesday.
Obama been invited by President George W. Bush to attend a White House lunch Wednesday, along with former presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
As for the inauguration, Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will travel to Washington for their swearing-in ceremony by train and hold events along the way.
The president-elect and his family will take a daylong trip via railroad on Jan. 17 from Philadelphia. He will then proceed to Wilmington, Delaware, where he and Biden will hold another event. Biden and his family will join Obama by train to Baltimore, Maryland for another event. They will arrive in Washington, D.C. in the evening.
A record crowd is expected to attend the inauguration of the 44th US president at the west front of the Capitol. The entire length of the National Mall in D.C. will be opened for the first time to the public for the swearing-in.
The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has warned of “crush-level crowds” during the event.
Obama, the first Democrat to win more than 51 percent of the popular vote since 1964, will take the oath of office on the Bible used by his favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, a century and a half ago.
Lincoln, the first Republican to sit as president, was sworn-in on March 4, 1861. The Bible he used, a 1,280-page book bound in burgundy velvet and published by the Oxford University Press, is part of the collections of the Library of Congress.
