Vacation

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is taking his own advice and taking his family to the Gulf Coast on vacation next month, something he and first lady Michelle Obama have been urging others to do to help the area's suffering economy.

The White House said the Obamas will visit an undisclosed section of Florida's coast the weekend of Aug. 14.

Obama has made four trips to the Gulf region, including an overnight stay, since an underwater well failed in April and began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. First lady Michelle Obama was scheduled to make her second visit the area on Friday.

On their trips to the region, both the president and Mrs. Obama have made a point of encouraging people to visit Gulf Coast beaches that are open and oil-free to help boost an area economy battered by the sharp decline in tourism that followed the spill.

"One of the best ways that fellow Americans can help is to come on down here and spend some money," Mrs. Obama said this month in Panama City Beach, Fla., where she strolled barefoot in the sand and bought a cup of chocolate ice cream.

Since the deadly well explosion, the Obamas — sometimes without daughters Malia and Sasha — have escaped Washington for brief vacations in Asheville, N.C., their home in Chicago, and Bar Harbor, Maine, last weekend.

The White House did not say where in Florida the Obamas would be spending their time.

* * * * *

Be sure to dine on that wonderful gulf seafood. Unfortunately, you can't order it deep-fried right now. Everything is soaked in so much Corexit that it keeps dissolving the cooking oil. The U.S. government guarantees that it's perfectly safe to eat though, so don't worry about a thing.

Oh, - leave your sun-block at home. Our water is SPF-30.

For your safety: Please, No Smoking or open flames within 50 feet of the Gulf.