Save it in the ER, spend it in the penthouse

The Baltimore Sun

A tipster who'd just gone to see Sicko sent me an invitation that Concentra Medical Centers mailed out to "Maryland VIPs." The invite notes that the company has helped businesses and municipalities across Maryland slash workers' comp and other health care costs. How'd they do it?

Apparently not by skimping on dinner parties.

Concentra has held a dinner for "Maryland government, business and civic leaders" at Ocean City's Galaxy Restaurant for years, in conjunction with the annual Maryland Association of Counties conference. This year, on Aug. 16, it's moving to even fancier digs: the "renowned" Ocean City penthouse that belongs to Mitzi Perdue, the chicken man's widow.

"This exquisite property has hosted dignitaries from all over the world," the invitation says. "Complete with antique pieces and themed rooms with Oriental and European decors, the penthouse is lined with ribbon walls of glass making the view spectacular. The 'wine cave,' disguised behind a cabinet door boasts a ceiling that looks like stone, a fireplace, trickling waterfall, amethyst crystal formations, genuine fossils and even a ghost" - more on that later - "who tells the story of how the wines that guests will be drinking came to be.

"The Perdue Penthouse is an extremely unique and spectacular venue that you will want to experience first hand - not to mention a magnificently catered evening of the finest food and drink."

Think of that the next time your insurer won't let you see a specialist, since in the very next sentence, Concentra brags about "dramatically reducing workers' compensation and healthcare costs."

Then again, maybe Perdue is giving them a good deal on chicken.

4-BR, 4-BA, $2.5 mil -- and you get a cave

If you didn't get an invite to Concentra's party, you can still see Perdue's penthouse at perduepenthouse.com. And if you like what you see, you can have it for $2.5 million.

Perdue has been trying to sell the place since spring. Which apparently is why, when Concentra asked to throw a dinner party there, the chicken heiress was game.

"I think they thought it would be a good opportunity to get some buyers in the door," said Concentra spokeswoman Kirstie Durr.

The 4-BR, 4-BA 4,288-square-foot oceanfront pad has two full kitchens, the Web site says. One of them - the "restaurant-caliber catering kitchen" - is for the people who actually cook. The other, for the people who like to pretend they cook. It's "an inviting social space with island work station for spreading out hors-d'oeuvre trays and fine wines."

And let's not forget the wine cave, which seats 10, not counting the aforementioned ghost.

"Press a console button and a ghost speaks to guests," the Web site said. "As the ghost tells his story, fog rolls in, and the guests hear - and feel the thunder - due to the transponders embedded in the seats. ... Fiber optics can change the cave ceiling to a night sky, and you can control the aromas with scents such as fresh pine and new earth."

Sound effects and smell effects! Why in the world is Perdue giving up all that?

She said the place was mostly used for business entertaining when Frank was alive, but she hardly uses it now. (She has homes in Salisbury and New York.)

Said Perdue: "Now it feels irresponsible to have something so big and not use it."

A fine and public place, but none, we think, can there embrace

The Free Hugs movement has come to Baltimore, where, predictably, it was told to move along.

A young man and woman showed up in the Inner Harbor one day this month holding a handmade sign that said "Free Hugs." They were offering embraces to any takers, and yes, that sounds kinda goofy, maybe even a little creepy, but people have been doing it all over the world since 2004, when some Australian guy who goes by "Juan Mann" (get it?) started the fad, and Oprah thinks it's cool, so it must be.

Anyway, the guy recounted their experience on freehugscampaign.org, where he goes by BlueAdept and she goes by I8DaCookie.

"Member I8DaCookie and I met up at the stage area in the inner harbor at around noon, and began to give out hugs. We were having a grand ol' time ... ," he wrote. "About an hour passed by when a Security guard came up and told us that we weren't allowed to give hugs anywhere between the Trade Center building and the Customer info building; also, we needed permission from the Aquarium to do it in front of there."

I8DaCookie, a student, left because she had a paper to write. But BlueAdept tried again over by the Power Plant. Passers-by gave him hugs, restaurant workers brought him sodas and water, and security guards left him alone. It only got a little ugly at the end, when he prepared to leave and some folks at the Hard Rock Cafe's outdoor bar area called him over.

"They bought me some cokes (they wanted to buy me a beer, but I don't drink and I'm only 19) and asked me about it and everything and were telling me how great they thought it was," he wrote. "Then two of the guys, slightly inebriated, put $10 each on the bar and told me to take it. I really didn't want to, as I was only hugging to help people out, but as I was refusing, they started to get a little mad, so I took it and thanked them profusely."

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