by John McCormick
President Barack Obama departed O'Hare International Airport at 10 a.m. CST today, ending his first visit to Chicago as the nation's chief executive.
Air Force One took off to the west on a chilly, but sunny President's Day, bound for Andrews Air Force Base just outside Washington.
After a three-day weekend at home, Obama and his family were flying back to return to the White House and another week of work and school.
With their commute near the end of the morning rush, the Obama family took Marine One to the airport, landing at 9:46 a.m. Some operations at O'Hare were briefly stopped for the president's departure.
After shaking a few hands on the tarmac, the president walked up the stairs to the nation's most famous aircraft and turned around and waved briefly.
When the Obamas arrived Friday evening, they took a 15-minute chopper ride past Chicago's skyline to the South Side's Daniel Burnham Park, before a quick motorcade to their Kenwood neighborhood home. Today, they reversed the commute.
Before his trip to the airport, Obama spent about an hour working out at an apartment building near his home.
Obama's first weekend at home as president seemed to go without any major glitches.