Lame duck Biden escapes the White House for Thanksgiving vacation in mega-wealthy Nantucket

President Joe Biden and members of his family left for Nantucket on Tuesday to spend the Thanksgiving holiday holed up on the small island off the coast of Massachusetts.

Biden and his extended family will stay through the holiday weekend. They are scheduled to leave on Saturday. President Biden is scheduled to leave for Angola on Sunday for a trip to sub-Saharan African.

The Biden family has been going to the island for years, dating back to 1975. They spend the time doing Christmas shopping, watching the town Christmas Tree lighting, and celebrating the president's birthday, which is the week before holiday. 

Members of the clan are frequently spotted in the historic downtown area, enjoying lunch at a local pub and visiting the shops.

Biden and his extended family will stay through the holiday weekend. They are scheduled to leave on Saturday. President Biden is scheduled to leave for Angola on Sunday for a trip to sub-Saharan Africa.

The island has been making preparations for the presidential arrival. A cargo plane landed last week with the necessary equipment needed to transport and guard the president.

Coast Guard boats have been circling the waters around the island. 

The amount of staff, security and reporters following the president where ever he goes numbers into the hundreds. Local hotels are booked and restaurants are preparing for the influx of people. 

Bill Puder, the owner of Faregrounds Restaurant and Pudley’s Pub, is preparing 200 Thanksgiving meals for the Secret Service to have on Thursday. 

Traditionally, the Bidens stay at the $34 million luxurious compound owned by billionaire businessman turned philanthropist David Rubenstein.

Last year the family took advantage of the 13-acre compound's private beach to take part in a cold plunge in the Nantucket Harbor and play 'Titanic' on the dock.

First daughter Ashley Biden conducted a photoshoot on Thanksgiving Day 2023 as her nieces Finnegan and Maisy struck the famous Jack-and-Rose pose on the jetty that juts out into the Nantucket Harbor.

Baby Beau, the youngest son of Hunter Biden, played on the beach surrounded by his sisters and cousins, Natalie and Hunter, the children of the late Beau Biden. 

The president's family started last year's holiday by taking part in the Nantucket Turkey Plunge, a tradition on the island that raises funds for the children's library. 

The Biden family took part virtually, jumping in the waters off their borrowed estate instead of making a public appearance on Children's Beach where the annual gathering takes place. 

Granddaughter Naomi Biden posted a picture on X of the Bidens lined up on the beach wrapped in beach towels.

The Bidens have been going to Nantucket for 49 years, dating back to when Biden was a U.S. senator. 

In his 2017 memoir 'Promise me Dad,' Biden wrote that Thanksgiving in 1975 was the first holiday he and his now-wife Jill spent together, going to Nantucket with his young sons Beau and Hunter for a little bonding time.

They rarely have missed a holiday on Nantucket since. 

One of the few Thanksgivings the Bidens missed there was in 2015, which took place about six months after Beau Biden died. 

The family went to Rome instead. They also skipped going in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic

The island became a spot of many memories for the family. Beau proposed to his future wife Hallie at the town's 2001 Christmas Tree lighting and married her at a downtown church. 

'We had some great years in that span, and we had some lousy years, but whatever was happening, whatever bumps and bruises we were suffering, we put it all aside and celebrated Thanksgiving in Nantucket,' the president wrote in his memoir. 

'The holiday trip was a constant in our grandchildren's lives from the time they were aware, and they made it clear how much it meant to them.'

While on the island, the Bidens stay at Rubenstein's $34 million 13-acre compound on Nantucket Harbor. 

It's a sprawling property that sits on the island's secluded inner harbor with gorgeous views of the water as the sun sets in the background. 

Rubenstein bought the waterfront property in 2000 for his now ex-wife Alice and their three children. He tore down the existing house and put up a 13,000-square-foot home which features a tennis court, swimming pool, hot tub and private dock.

Zillow estimates it would cost $30,000 a month to rent. 

The house is located on historic Abrams Point off of Polpis Road - named after one of the last surviving Native Americans of the Wampanoag people, Abram Quary.

Biden started Thanksgiving celebration son Monday when he pardoned two turkeys - Peach and Blossom - in his final turkey pardoning as president. 

The commander-in-chief filled his speech with cringeworthy one-liners about 'fowl' play that was at one point interrupted by Peach's gurgle.

'Yeah I hear you. Peach wants to speak a little bit,' Biden responded. 

'They tell me 2500 people are here… looking for a pardon!' Biden joked as he addressed the crowd on the South Lawn.

'Keep calm and gobble on' he added before turning to a more serious note to reflect on the 'honor of a lifetime' serving as president.

The topic of pardons has been constant in the White House with Hunter Biden facing sentencing for tax crimes next months.  

The president has said repeatedly he won't pardon or commute his son's sentence.

But Biden does have the power to give a reprieve to anyone he wants, including his son, those people worried about retribution from Donald Trump, and even turkeys.

'I hereby pardon Peach and Blossom!,' he declared. While he did the pardoning, Hunter's son Baby Beau watched from the sidelines. 

Blossom and Peach weight 40 and 41 pounds, respectively, and were raised on a farm in Northfield, Minnesota.

They were raised by John Zimmerman, chairman of the National Turkey Federation, and his 9-year-old son, Grant.

After being pardoned by, the turkeys will return to live at Farmamerica, an agricultural interpretive center in Waseca, Minnesota.

After the pardoning, he and first lady Jill Biden went to Staten Island, to celebrate a 'Friendsgiving' with Coast Guard members and their families.