KANE'OHE BAY — President-elect Barack Obama today shook hands and expressed holiday greetings to more than 100 Marines having a Christmas Day meal at Marines Corps Base Hawaii.

Obama walked among the Marines at a dining facility at Anderson Hall on the base, just down the road from where he and his family are relaxing for the holidays at a secluded beachfront vacation rental compound in Kailua.

Obama and his wife Michelle have been familiar faces at the base this week, using its exercise facilities for early morning workouts.

Today Obama spent about an hour with the Marines at about 4 p.m. Dressed in a blue shirt and dark slacks, the president-elect walked among tables of diners. Service members stood to greet Obama, smiled, posed for photographs and even managed to snag a few autographs of their incoming commander-in-chief.

Obama spent the morning celebrating Christmas Day with his family at their vacation rental home. He skipped his morning workout for the first time since arriving in Hawai'i on Dec. 20.

At 9:45 am., a Kailuana Place neighbor on a bicycle gave Obama's media handler a Christmas card to deliver.

The card came in a white envelope with "Obama family" handwritten on the outside.

The card had a palm tree on it and the word "peace" written in sand.