Vice president, wife arrive for stay in private residence Charleston had a VIP arrive Wednesday — the VP. Vice President Joe Biden made an unannounced stop in Charleston for what was billed as a weeklong vacation on Kiawah Island. Vice President Joe Biden has no public events scheduled during his stay on Kiawah Island. The official motorcade left the Charleston Air Force Base area around 6 p.m. under heavy security. Late Wednesday, the White House confirmed Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will be visiting Kiawah until next week, but that no public events are scheduled. They were set to be guests at the private residence of Maria Allwin. S.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler said she understood Biden wanted down time while he was here. "I was told this was just vacation and that he was not planning any other events," she said. Biden made numerous friends and connections here during last year's campaign, Fowler said, adding that a VP visit is good publicity for the state. Biden knows South Carolina "is a great place to vacation, even though the governor feels he has to leave" for his vacations, Fowler said. In the wake of his admitted affair with an Argentine woman, Gov. Mark Sanford and his family vacationed in Europe. They returned Wednesday. Biden, a former senator from Delaware, has deep-rooted ties to the Palmetto State. In the U.S. Senate, he was a close friend of now-retired South Carolina Democrat Fritz Hollings of Isle of Palms. Biden also gave the eulogy at the 2003 funeral for former Sen. Strom Thurmond in Columbia.

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