Biden Family Arrives On Nantucket For Final Thanksgiving Visit Of Presidency

President Joe Biden arrived on Nantucket Tuesday evening with his family aboard Air Force One for what will be their final Thanksgiving visit to the island of his presidency.

The massive aircraft touched down at Nantucket Memorial Airport just before 6 p.m. as a huge security presence blocked off roads and patrolled around the area. A small crowd watched as the presidential motorcade whisked the first family away toward Rabbit Run Road and the waterfront compound of private equity billionaire and philanthropist David Rubenstein. The Bidens have stayed at the property overlooking Nantucket Harbor for the past three years.

For the Bidens, the visit continues a tradition of coming to Nantucket for Thanksgiving that stretches back more than 40 years. Around the island, the scene was one that residents have grown accustomed to over the past three years during Biden's presidency. Downtown hotels and inns are fully booked with Secret Service personnel, security teams, and White House reporters during what is normally a quiet holiday for the island.

Over the past three days, massive Air Force C-17s were flying in and out of the airport dropping off vehicles and equipment, while nearly a dozen Massachusetts State Police Troopers arrived on motorcycles aboard the Steamship Authority ferry on Monday. Meanwhile at Faregrounds Restaurant, chef Bill Puder is cooking up more than 200 turkey dinners for the Secret Service.

President Biden has no public events on his schedule for Wednesday, and his visit is expected to follow the same routine as the past three years. The Bidens will call members of the military on Thanksgiving day before enjoying a family meal, and then are expected to hit the town on Friday for lunch, shopping, and to attend the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Main Street.

The Bidens are scheduled to leave the island on Saturday this year (in previous years they had left on Sunday).

The Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the tree lighting event, has issued an advisory stating that the best way for the public to enter the event will be to come up from the bottom of Main Street, as there will be no pedestrian access via Orange Street this year.

For anyone who does not want to pass through the security screening, the lower portion of Main Street between Federal and South Water Streets will be closed to cars and open for people to watch from there.

The Secret Service provided the Chamber with the following list of prohibited items for those looking to pass through screening to attend the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the closer vantage point: