One sight Obama will see at the Vineyard: "Miss me yet?" T shirts

OAK BLUFFS — Sharky’s Cantina is once again mixing its “Obamarita’’ cocktail, with tastes of the president’s favorite fruits, and the Locker Room on Circuit Avenue has restocked the “I vacationed with Obama’’ T-shirts.

But as Martha’s Vineyard prepares for the first family’s visit tomorrow — their second summer stay here since President Obama took office — the excitement that marked last summer’s arrival of the fresh-faced commander in chief seems to have ebbed like the tide.

Obama, now a tested president burdened by war and economic upheaval, may well get the peace and quiet he has been seeking as he settles in for a 10-day stay, presumably at the historic Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark where he stayed last year, local residents said.

“I have no desire to go chase him or see him,’’ said Elaine Allen, owner of the Laughing Bear clothing shop on Circuit Avenue, one of the few stores to feature a poster in its window welcoming the first family this year.

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One barometer of the plunge in excitement has been the sale of Obama-themed T-shirts, which designers had been banking on after the craze of last year. Clothing labeled with the president’s name sold by the thousands, helping to salvage a tough economic year for the island.


But this year’s T-shirt sales are much less brisk, merchants say.

“Last year, Obama gave you goose bumps, but I don’t think you’re going to see that this year,’’ said Alex McCluskey, co-owner of the Locker Room, who sold more than 4,000 “I vacationed with Obama’’ T-shirts last year. But so far this year, he said, his hot item is T-shirts of former President Bush asking, “Miss me yet?"