Where Joe Biden has vacationed for 45 years

The Hamptons off New York, Hawaii or Florida: these are popular holiday destinations for the US American elite. President Joe Biden, however, is undeterred and has been vacationing on the same island for 45 years. A foray through the whaling island of Nantucket.

There is one piece of earth that US President Joe Biden fell in love with: It’s called Nantucket and is located in the US state of Massachusetts, just south of the well-known Cape Cod peninsula. But Nantucket is not a well-known holiday destination even in the US. Joe Biden has nevertheless been vacationing on the island for 45 years. Reason enough to take a closer look.

Island of the Whalers

Only about 11,000 residents live on the island, which is one of US President Biden’s favorite places. The islanders are spread over an area of ​​125 square kilometers. The name of her homeland, Nantucket, doesn’t sound particularly local. In fact. Because it goes back to an indigenous language and is therefore, strictly speaking, particularly American. Nantucket translates to “the far away land”.

The island used to be a port of call for whalers, and there are still a few sailing boats between the dunes today. Maybe that’s why the name sounds familiar to some. In the novel “Moby Dick” the sailor begins his journey from the island. Today the people here live from tourism. Although Nantucket may have gained notoriety from Joe Biden, the vacation spot is still the lesser-known little sister of neighboring island Martha’s Vinyard. Some prominent Americans vacation there. Famous guests included ex-presidential families such as the Obamas, the Clintons and the Kennedy family.

Nantucket is older than the US

Things are different on the neighboring island of Nantucket. WELT reports, however, that in addition to Joe Biden, Robert de Niro and Michael Douglas have already been seen on Nantucket. Biden even describes the island in his book Promise Me, Dad, highlighting the Thanksgiving holiday spirit he traditionally spends here: “It’s cold on the small island in late November. But you can smell the salty air of the Atlantic”.

Nantucket was founded in 1687 – almost 100 years before the United States of America. The oldest house on the island is therefore older than the USA and can still be visited today. The wooden house is called the Jethro Coffin House and has been converted into a museum. Other than that, there isn’t much to see in Nantucket. WELT describes that the old town consists of just five blocks. On Main Street in the only town that has the same name as the island, Nantucket, customers like Biden can shop for sweaters, pants and souvenirs.

The houses where you can shop or eat are all grey. Only the shades are different here: because almost all the houses are clad in cedar wood, which quickly turns gray. Like many typical American houses, they are only one or two stories high and look every bit as chic as the wealthy tourists who vacation on Nantucket.

Biden regularly polar dives on Nantucket

Anyone who looks at the “main attractions of the island” will notice that there is nothing spectacular to see here at first glance. The excursion destinations include a historic mill, which is said to be the oldest in operation in the entire USA, as “exit-reisen.de” writes. One of the oldest lighthouses in the country is also on the island.

More exciting is a very special Nantucket tradition that Joe Biden regularly participates in. The polar diving. Brave people dive briefly with their whole bodies into the Atlantic to collect donations for the local children’s library. The spectacle ramps up during the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.

Other than that, there’s not much going on on Nantucket during the winter months. A resident told Deutschlandfunk: “95 percent of the houses in the city area are uninhabited in winter. Probably 85 percent on the island as a whole. You can walk through an entire neighborhood and not see a single light on — for months.”

Where exactly is Joe Biden vacationing?

No one knows where exactly Joe Biden is spending his vacation on Nantucket. At least the inhabitants of the island keep tight. What is certain, however, is that he never bought a property on the island himself. At least we know more about the arrival. The US President flies with his family from Washington to the island in his private jet.