Hiking, beach - and maybe work - on Obama vacation

President Barack Obama is planning to hike, laze at the beach and visit an ice cream parlor or two while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, but his spokesman realizes world affairs may interfere.

Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters Tuesday aboard Air Force One that "the president is definitely going to spend a little time recharging his batteries." Obama and his family arrive Thursday on the island off Massachusetts.

But Burton joked that the White House press corps should "think that this is going to be the hardest that they will have ever have worked in their entire lives."

While Obama vacationed last August on the Vineyard, Sen. Edward Kennedy died and the president delivered the eulogy at his Boston funeral.

In December, the president's Hawaii vacation was interrupted by the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner.