Residents in this Eastern Shore tourist town seemed to collectively shrug their shoulders Friday at reports that pop star Michael Jackson has been house-hunting, apparently shopping for a secluded waterfront mansion.
Up and down Talbot Street, the crowded main thoroughfare of the 300-year-old community, merchants and shoppers exchanged rumors about Jackson Friday. In a waterside restaurant in nearby Oxford, a beauty salon in Easton and in real estate offices throughout the county, people speculated about the eccentric singer.
The Easton Star Democrat reported Friday that unnamed sources confirmed that the “King of Pop” stayed Thursday night at the opulent Inn at Perry Cabin.
John Volponi, the inn’s general manager, refused to comment on Jackson, but rumors had Jackson checking out one house in Queen Anne’s County and two waterfront estates near St. Michaels in Talbot County.
The notoriously reclusive entertainer was said to be traveling with a small entourage that included bodyguards. Jackson spokeswoman Raymone K. Bain did not return a call to her Washington office.
Jackson’s arrival and his rumored house-hunting tour set off speculation that other big-name entertainment figures have also discovered the charm of the community and miles and miles of meandering shoreline in Talbot and Queen Anne’s counties.
