President Barack Obama continued his low-key visit to Chicago Sunday with a morning workout and an evening visit to a neighbor’s home.
Though there had been speculation that the president and his family would take in a Blackhawks game, attend a play or visit their favorite restaurants over the holiday weekend, they have remained close to their Kenwood home for much of the trip.
On Sunday morning, the president marked his fourth day in the city by going to a Near West Side gym to work out. Reporters were not told the name of the facility, but the building Obama entered houses Naturally Fit, a fitness studio owned by Cornell McClellan, a celebrity trainer who has worked with the president and the first lady.
Later that evening, the president gathered with friends and family at a neighbor’s house. The neighbor lives within the cordoned-off area surrounding the Obamas’ Kenwood home, allowing the first family to walk over without being seen by the media.
Obama’s schedule was nearly identical Saturday, when he played basketball in the morning and visited his friend Marty Nesbitt’s nearby house later in the day.
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Michelle Obama’s mother, Marion Robinson, and her brother, Craig, have joined the family on the trip. However, much of the neighborhood excitement surrounding the president’s homecoming seems to stem from family dog Bo’s first visit to Chicago, as rubbernecking passersby tried to get a glimpse of the first pet Sunday morning and more than one home sported signs welcoming him.
Bo made a brief appearance before cameras Saturday as he walked with the Obamas to Nesbitt’s house.
Before his inauguration, the president spoke of returning to Chicago frequently, but the weekend trip marks his family’s first visit in more than a year.
The president is expected to attend his only public event Monday as he pays his Memorial Day respects at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood. His choice to commemorate the holiday in Illinois instead of Arlington National Cemetery has rankled some veterans groups, who see the decision as a sign of disrespect from a commander in chief who has sent tens of thousands of troops into an escalating war in Afghanistan.
Vice President Joe Biden will attend the Arlington ceremony instead.
Obama and his family are expected to return to Washington after the ceremony.