Where the presidential candidates go to unwind

— -- From Key West to Kennebunkport, the places presidents go to recharge often experience a boost in their own polls. And as candidates Barack Obama and John McCain head into the election homestretch, two of their preferred escapes, Hawaii's Oahu and Arizona's Verde Valley, are getting extra scrutiny. USA TODAY spotlights the candidates' favorite getaways — one famous, one unfamiliar even to many Arizonans.

Obama's Oahu

Political commentator Cokie Roberts may have chided Honolulu-born Obama this month for spending his week-long vacation in "some sort of foreign, exotic place."

But resulting media coverage of the presumptive Democratic nominee slurping shave ice and flashing the shaka (Hawaii's pinky-and-thumb salute) was a windfall to a state whose top industry has been hammered by airline cutbacks and a slumping economy.

Although he didn't spend the night — the Obamas rented a house on Kailua Beach, about 30 minutes from Waikiki on the windward, or eastern, side of Oahu — his choice of The Kahala Hotel & Resort for a fundraiser prompted a press release noting that every U.S. president since Lyndon Johnson has stayed at the Honolulu hideout. (Note to Obama and McCain: Kahala's refurbished presidential suite makes its debut in December for $8,888 a night.)

"There's really no way we could have scripted it better: golf, bodysurfing, a picnic at Ala Moana Beach with family and friends. It was absolutely perfect for us," Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau president John Monahan told the Honolulu Advertiser.

"Local boy" Obama, who went to boarding school near the mouth of Oahu's scenic Manoa Valley and whose grandmother still lives in Honolulu, typically spends Christmas on the island. And many of the places that logged Obama sightings on his most recent visit are frequented by both visitors and kamaaina (longtime residents), notes Alex Salkever, publisher of the blog Hawaiirama.com.

"Alan Wong's (where the Obamas ate dinner ) is one of the best restaurants in town," Salkever says, "and a lot of local families' relatives are buried at Punchbowl" National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The volcanic crater overlooks Waikiki and serves as a final resting place for more than 35,000 veterans, including Obama's maternal grandfather.