Obamas returning to Vineyard in August

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- President Obama is planning to return to Martha’s Vineyard again for vacation this summer, the third time he and his family have visited the island since he took office.

The Obamas are expected to spend seven to 10 days on the island in mid- to late August, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. Arrangements for White House staffmembers and Secret Service personnel who travel with the Obamas already have been made.

The First Family is expected to stay at Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark, the same 28-acre estate the family rented in 2009 and 2010. The farm overlooks Tisbury Great Pond and includes a basketball court, pool and boat house.

Last year, White House officials told The Globe that the Obamas like Martha’s Vineyard in part because of its natural beauty, beaches and food.

“And it’s someplace that the president went before he was president and likes to go back because it’s a comfortable place where he can rest and recharge the batteries a little bit,” Bill Burton, Obama’s deputy press secretary at the time, said.

During past vacations on the Vineyard, the Obamas spent much of their time on the farm but ventured out sporadically for golf and shopping.