Following a long afternoon on the golf course, President Obama broke with routine and joined the First Lady for an early evening jazz concert at Featherstone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs. Jazz on the Vineyard is a benefit for Student Achievement Through Opportunity. Scheduled performers included Meshell Ndegeocello and Rachelle Ferrell. The President is scheduled to fly back to Washington later tonight for two days, returning on Tuesday.

He’s happy to be on the Vineyard although being from Hawaii, he finds the water a bit cold, President Obama told a small gathering of Democratic supporters on Monday evening.

“It’s really wonderful to be at Martha’s Vineyard,” Mr. Obama said. “And Michelle and the girls are having a wonderful time. And we were hanging out with some seals this afternoon who came by and said hello . . . It couldn’t have been nicer.”

The remarks framed the opener for a Democratic Senate Campaign Committee fundraising event held at the Vineyard Haven home of Berklee College of Music president Roger Brown and his wife Linda Mason.

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey attended, along with Colorado Sen. Michael Bennett.

The signs are evident around the Island: Secret Service agents at restaurants, those loud military helicopters and airplanes flying overhead, the small motorcade of vehicles headed Up-Island Friday afternoon.

President Obama is scheduled to arrive Saturday for a summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard. This will be the fifth time the first family has vacationed on the Island during President Obama's presidency.

According to the White House, President Obama will leave the White House at about 11 a.m. He is scheduled to arrive at Cape Cod Coast Guard Air Station just after noon, and then will arrive at Martha's Vineyard Airport just before 1 p.m.

He will attend a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser in Vineyard Haven on Monday, and he will be briefly departing the Island on Sunday, August 17 for White House meetings, returning to the Island Tuesday, August 19. He is scheduled to depart again for Washington D.C. on Sunday, August 24.

The White House released no other information about his schedule while on the Island.

The Obamas will be renting a Chilmark home off North Road. In the past, President Obama, the first lady, and their daughters have spent the vacation visiting friends and favorite restaurants, going on a bike ride at the state forest and visiting the beach. President Obama usually pays several visits to Island golf courses.

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Taking the unusual step of interrupting his vacation, President Obama is back at the White House Monday for a series of meetings about issues including Iraq and civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo. He is expected to return to the Vineyard Tuesday.

Before the President left on Marine One late Sunday night, he and the First Lady had an evening out, including a stop at Featherstone Center for the Arts for some outdoor jazz. The couple then went to Atria for dinner, making the first presidential visit to the Edgartown restaurant.

“It was very cool to have them,” Atria owner Christian Thornton told the Gazette Monday. He said that at first he was concerned about whether the visit would be a hardship to his customers, with Secret Service coming through the restaurant, extra security and a portion of Upper Main street closed to traffic. But everyone was excited to be a part of it, he said.

“There’s always a great buzz and excitement,” Mr. Thornton said. “The customers are excited once they figure out what’s going on.”

“It was not terribly disruptive, they come in and they bring a lot of security, the bomb-sniffing dogs come in," he said. "The motorcade was just an amazing amount of vehicles out front.”

The President was with a large party including his family, Mr. Thornton said. President Obama had lobster and Mrs. Obama had striped bass.

They did not order dessert, as the President left immediately after dinner to depart with daughter Malia for Washington, D.C. Mrs. Obama stayed at the restaurant awhile, Mr. Thornton said.

“He was very gracious and said hello to a number of the staff,” Mr. Thornton said, adding that the President seemed happy to be there and posed for a picture. “It was nice to see him with his family, relaxed.”

“It was very exciting for the guests and the staff, and I hope for Edgartown,” he said.

It's a night out for President Obama and the First Lady, who are having dinner at the Sweet Life Cafe in Oak Bluffs.

The couple are dining with National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Attorney General Eric Holder, former trade ambassador Ron Kirk and their respective spouses.

The motorcade arrived in Oak Bluffs just after 8 p.m., and people crowded outside of the Thai restaurant next door to get a glimpse of the action. Others gathered behind yellow police tape across the street. A child asked a police officer on duty if she could take a selfie photograph with him; he obliged.

Sweet Life is a favorite of President and Mrs. Obama, as they have visited the Upper Circuit Avenue spot during past visits. The menu at the fine dining restaurant changes nightly, with ingredients sourced by local farmers. Main plates include artichoke ravioli and sesame and coriander crusted tuna.

Air Force One, which was carrying the president, first lady and Malia, has landed at Cape Cod Coast Guard Air Station. The first family has boarded Marine One and is en route to Martha's Vineyard Airport.

Speaking at the Edgartown School early Wednesday afternoon, President Obama condemned the execution of Jim Foley, an American journalist who was abducted in northwest Syria in 2012.

“Today the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of Jim Foley,” the president said during a short statement. “Jim was a journalist, son, brother, and a friend who reported from difficult and dangerous places, bearing witness to the lives of people a world away.”

A video released by the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Tuesday depicts Mr. Foley's beheading. The video was accompanied by the threat of further violence against freelance journalist Steven Sotloff, who has been missing since 2013.

Mr. Obama said he spoke on the phone earlier Wednesday morning with Mr. Foley’s parents, who live in New Hampshire.

“Jim Foley’s life stands in stark contrast to his killers,” Mr. Obama said, condemning ISIL’s attacks on cities and villages, and its killing and brutal treatment of innocent civilians. He pointed out that ISIL targets Christians and other religious minorities, and that the majority of its victims are Muslims.

“So ISIL speaks for no religion,” he said. “No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day.”

“People like this ultimately fail,” he said. “They fail because the future is won by those who build and not destroy, and the world is shaped by people like Jim Foley and the overwhelming majority of humanity who are appalled by those who killed him.”

He called on the Iraqi people to “continue coming together to expel these terrorists from their communities,” and pledged to continue supporting the people of Syria “in their pursuit of a future rooted in dignity.”

“Friends and allies around the world, we share a common security and a common set of values that are rooted in the opposite of what we saw yesterday,” Mr. Obama said. “And we will continue to confront this hateful terrorism, and replace it with a sense of hope and civility.”

The President and First Lady are at Farm Neck tonight attending a birthday party for Ann Jordan, wife of Vernon Jordan who is a former advisor to President Clinton. The Jordans are longtime summer visitors to the Vineyard. The Clintons were also expected to attend the private party.

After spending about four and a half hours on the golf course at Farm Neck, President Obama headed back to Chilmark, where he will remain for the rest of the day.

Earlier, the press pool got a brief glimpse of the president golfing with sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, basketball player Ray Allen, and Cyrus Walker, the cousin of senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.

President Obama wore a white golf shirt, gray pants and a baseball cap. As the foursome wrapped up the first hole, the president carefully lined up a short putt.

Deer and geese were spotted in Chilmark fields as the motorcade traveled back to Chilmark. The Obamas will have a wonderful view of the sun setting over Vineyard Sound and the Elizabeth Islands.

President Obama is back on the golf course for the eighth time during his Vineyard vacation. Farm Neck seems to be his golf course of choice — he is hitting the links at the Oak Bluffs golf club for the fifth time this summer.

According to the White House, the President is joined on the course today by retired NBA player Alonzo Mourning, Cyrus Walker and Preston Heard.

President Obama addressed the nation early Thursday afternoon from the Edgartown School, providing an update about the situation in Iraq and calling for "peace and calm" in Ferguson, Mo., where there has been growing civil unrest after the shooting of an 18-year-old man.

It was the second time in four days the President has made public statements from the Vineyard, where he is on vacation for 16 days.

During a nine-minute speech, the President said that while the situation remains dire for Iraqis, American efforts, including airstrikes, have helped improve the situation at Mount Sinjar, where thousands of people were trapped by Islamic militants.

"As commander in chief I could not be prouder of the men and women of our military who carried out this humanitarian mission almost flawlessly," the President said.

Mr. Obama said he has been briefed by Attorney General Eric Holder, who is also on the Vineyard, about the situation in Ferguson, Mo., where there have been protests and confrontations between police and residents after Michael Brown was shot by police Sunday.

The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating Mr. Brown's death, he said, and the Department of Justice has also been talking with local authorities in Missouri about maintaining public safety and avoiding unnecessary escalation of the situation.

The President said he has also talked with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, whom he called a "good man and a fine governor."

He said there is never an excuse for violence against police nor is there excuse for police to use excessive force. He also said police should not be arresting journalists for doing their jobs. There were reports Wednesday night that two reporters were arrested in Ferguson.

"Remember how this started," the President told about 50 members of the press assembled in the school cafeteria, which is serving as the press filing center during his vacation. "We lost a young man, Michael Brown, in heartbreaking and tragic circumstances . . . his family will never hold Michael in their arms again."

After the address, which ended at about 1 p.m., the President headed to the Vineyard Golf Club, down the road from the school. He is playing with Cyrus Walker, World Bank president Jim Kim and former ambassador Ron Kirk.

On day two of his Vineyard vacation, President Obama apparently spent a quiet morning at his rented Chilmark home before heading back to the golf course. The presidential motorcade arrived at Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs at about 1:35 p.m.

President Obama is golfing with sportscaster Ahmad Rashad and Cyrus Walker, both of whom also joined the president on the green yesterday. Today Robert Wolf, a former UBS executive, completes the foursome.

White House officials continued to condemn the recent murder of American journalist James Foley and defended the President's trips to the golf course during a press briefing Friday afternoon.

Speaking at the Edgartown school cafeteria, which has served as the press filing center during President Obama's visit to the Island, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said the murder of Mr. Foley was a terrorist attack and "an affront, an attack, not just on him...but our country."

Mr. Rhodes said the United States has done everything possible to bring home hostages and that as a matter of policy, the U.S. does not provide ransom or any funding for terror organizations.

He and Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz fielded questions on a number of other issues, including about the Ukraine, civil unrest in Feguson, Mo., and the Ebola outbreak.

Mr. Schultz addressed questions about the time the President has spent playing golf during his vacation, and whether there was concern about the juxtaposition of the President speaking about grave situations and then going to the golf course.

"Generally speaking, sports and leisure activities are a good way for release and clearing of the mind for a lot of us," the deputy press secretary said.

"First and foremost, he's doing his job," Mr. Schultz said of the President. "Just because the President is in a different location doesn't mean he's not doing his job...nobody can deny he's been deeply engaged." He said that the issues facing the country have "absolutely captured" the President's attention.

The President and his family are expected to depart on Sunday.

Earlier today, the Obamas took a hike around the Chilmark home where they are staying.

After spending a sunny afternoon at the beach, President Obama and the First Lady are out to dinner at State Road restaurant in West Tisbury.

The President and First Lady Michelle Obama are dining with friends, the White House said. The Obamas have visited State Road during their past vacations on the Vineyard; according to the State Road website, tonight's menu includes fluke and swordfish from Menemsha and pan roasted Vineyard striped bass.

Earlier in the day, President Obama, Mrs. Obama, and daughter Malia, 16, spent about four hours at a South Shore beach. According to the White House, they were joined by friends.

The president will attend a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee later on Monday at a private home in Vineyard Haven. There will be print press coverage of his remarks.