Bush arrives in Maine for family weekend

KENNEBUNKPORT – President Bush arrived Thursday at his family’s vacation retreat on the Atlantic coast, looking forward to a birthday celebration, a few holes of golf and a break from Washington’s sweltering summer.

In a rush to unwind once inside the Walker’s Point estate, the president quickly traded his dress shirt for a T-shirt. A television camera also spotted his 77-year-old father, the former president, barefoot and in a white robe, apparently heading for the swimming pool.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said there are long ties between the president and the house at Kennebunkport. “It’s part of his family,” he said. Bush, who turns 55 on Friday, landed amid a downpour in nearby Sanford, Maine. Braving the weather, a few residents greeted his motorcade as it arrived from the airport. “Welcome to Maine. Happy Birthday,” one sign said.

Joining him on the trip were friends, White House aides, and family – his parents, former President Bush and Barbara Bush, sister Dorothy and brother Jeb, Florida’s governor.

Flying outside the estate were an American flag, the presidential flag, Maine’s state flag as well as the state flags of both Texas and Florida.

“Kennebunkport is a place where his parents and grandparents spent an awful lot of time. He just wants to spend time with his parents and his friends,” Fleischer said after Bush’s plane landed. “That remains the same whether he is president or governor or a private citizen.”

As for recreation, Fleischer said the president “just wants to shoot as low a score as possible playing golf.”

The president is the second Bush to turn the stone-and-shingle oceanfront home into a summer White House. His father golfed, raced his speedboat and jogged during Kennebunkport stays.

The former president, on a dare from his eldest son, once stripped off his shirt and jumped into the ocean, wearing slacks.

Before leaving the White House, Bush announced his appointment of a new FBI director, met with the president of Guatemala, called the president of China and met with governors and local school superintendents about his education plan pending before Congress.

As he boarded Air Force One, Bush carried one of his dogs, Scottish terrier Barney, and held the leash for Spot, his springer spaniel. Accompanying the president were GOP Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and his family, though the Ridges were not staying at Walker’s Point.

Last weekend, Ridge was with Bush as the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

The last time Bush came to Kennebunkport was in June 2000, when he and his siblings converged for a birthday party for their mother. White House officials expect the president to stay close to the family grounds.

The town, including lobstermen and the residents of expensive summer homes, has warm feelings for the Bushes.

The former president has spent at least part of every summer since childhood here, except when he was in the Navy during World War II. Residents have watched George W. and the other Bush children grow up. Some of the memories are not so good.

In 1976, after visiting a bar with friends and a family member during the Labor Day weekend, Bush was arrested and pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Bush kept the incident under wraps throughout his political career, but was forced to acknowledge it when the arrest report surfaced late in the 2000 presidential campaign.