“The President is visiting Shangri-La today…”

Whoever gets elected this November, chances are high that Shangri-La will be visited by the President in 2025.

What’s that you say? Fun fact: What we now call Camp David, “the Presidential retreat”, was once a camp called Shangri-La.

Don’t we all wish for a home-away-from-home where we can relax and do our own thing?

*The statue in the yard shows Abraham Lincoln at his summer house away from the White House. Now a museum, you can **learn more here**.*

Lincoln’s summer retreat was just 45 minutes from the White House… if you were

traveling by horse and carriage. U.S. Grant actually began the tradition of a specific place to relax when he first used this home in New Jersey.

President Ulysses S. Grant had a large seaside cottage in Long Branch NJ in 1869 and was said to love driving his carriage along the beach. The tradition of summer visits continued with Presidents Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, and Wilson.

Presidents, especially those in our early history, would leave the Presidential quarters to naturally tend to personal businesses or farms. But modern-day Presidents have full-time jobs, and they still need to have a break, to enjoy family and friends.

Presidential escapes from the White House have changed a lot from the days when a president traveled with a few coachmen and outriders, a servant or two, maybe a private secretary. Interested in how a President is kept secure? Here’s a video on that topic.

Read more.
Images sources here.