It was just another average summer morning last Friday at Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Vineyard Haven, Mass., until President Barack Obama and his daughters stopped by for a visit to start their first day of vacation on Martha's Vineyard.
Oh, and then there was the motorcade... and the media:
The Associated Press (via NPR) noted that the president "had a simple task for his first morning on vacation: shoot over to a Martha's Vineyard bookstore to fill out his daughters' summer reading list and grab himself a novel. Easier said than done. His SUV, part of a 20-vehicle motorcade, passed through a cordon of Massachusetts State Police motorcycle officers, in a protective cocoon of Secret Service agents. Tagging along for the quick trip Friday were White House communications trucks, an ambulance and two vans full of reporters and photographers."
The Cape Cod Times featured a video interview with Dawn Braasch, owner of Bunch of Grapes, and reported the distinguished customers "bought Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and John Steinbeck's The Red Pony.... Obama was given an advance copy of the book Freedom by Jonathan Franzen--which is not yet released--after he asked about its availability, said Braasch. He also signed copies of his book Dreams From My Father for the bookstore staff."
ABC News reported that "Obama and his girls made a beeline upstairs to the children’s book section where they picked out some titles from the The Land of Elyon series and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.... Some of the patrons at the Bunch of Grapes bookstore said they were tipped off when casually dressed U.S. Secret Service agents showed up. And there was no doubt when the motorcade rolled into town, blocking traffic on the busy Main Street for about 20 minutes."
The bookstore was also a favorite of Bill Clinton when he was president and vacationed on Martha's Vineyard.