HONOLULU, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michele Obama have visited a Hawaii Marine Corps base for the second straight Christmas, officials say.
The first couple went to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Friday, as they did last Christmas before Barack Obama's inauguration, where they worked out at the base's "Semper Fit" gym beginning about 6:50 a.m., The Honolulu Advertiser reported.
The Obamas' day was interrupted by news that a Nigerian man had been arrested for allegedly trying to ignite an explosive device on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit.
Later in the afternoon, the first couple returned to the base from their Kailua rental home to attend a midday Christmas Day meal at its Anderson Hall chow hall, the newspaper said. The president reportedly joked with a 24-year-old, 6-foot-5, 250-pound Marine that the lone turkey leg on his plate didn't seem like much a meal for a man his size.
"I never had to walk through a metal detector to get to the chow hall before, so that was a tip they were coming," another Marine, Lance Cpl. Craig Cercone, 23, told the Advertiser.
