President-elect Barack Obama acknowledges the traveling press corps as he arrives to play golf in Kailua, Hawaii on Dec. 21, 2008. Behind him is Eugene Kang, a member of Obama's staff.

President-elect Barack Obama spent his first full day in Hawaii working out with his wife, Michelle, ordering local delicacies and playing 18 holes of golf on a rolling green set against the backdrop of a volcanic mountain range.

As he began a 13-day vacation in his home state, Obama and his family settled into the oceanfront estate in quiet Kailua, where they will join close friends from Chicago for the holidays. But while he spent most of Sunday outdoors, enjoying tropical temperatures in the 80s, aides described this as a working vacation for the man who will assume the presidency in less than one month.

On Sunday, Obama awoke early for a 7:15 a.m. workout at a gymnasium at a sleepy Marine Corps base on the island of Oahu. Michelle Obama, carrying an iPod and headphones, joined her husband for the 45-minute exercise session, according to a media pool report. As they emerged from the gym, Obama, in a gray shirt soaked with sweat, lifted his right hand to give a quick salute to a couple uniformed Marines standing nearby.

Then it was off to the green for the president-elect, who was joined at the picturesque Olomana Golf Links in Waimanalo by two friends and a political aide, Eugene Kang. The foursome played for five hours at the challenging public course, a par 72, set near the Ko'olau Mountain Range. read more