ATTRACTIONS
TIME IN A BOTTLE
BY CHRISTINA TASCON
44 Port St. Lucie Magazine
SHERRY SANTINO
Dennis Grabhorn and Christine Williams pose with their pups in the famous conch shell flanked by employees Dylan Kelley and Sherry Santino.
PSL shell shop transports customers
back to a simpler era
In the 1950s and ’60s, U.S. Highway 1 was the miniequivalent
of Route 66 with its own share of roadside
attractions. Riding along in a hot car, sticking to the seat
and fighting with one’s siblings could be forgotten when
the Chevy rolled to a stop outside one of those places filled
with the souvenirs that would forever be connected with
childhood memories.
If one happened to be on the St. Lucie County stretch of
U.S. 1 that is now Port St. Lucie, Shell Bazaar was one of
those absolute must stops. Even if you had drunk your fill of
shot glass-sized orange juice from every grove shop or had
your share of ice cream from the Twistee Treat, no trip was
complete without salt water taffy at the kitschy shop, which
might have more seashells than the seashore.
Stopping there today is like stepping into the past, but all
the colors are so much brighter than one remembers. It is not >>
WILLIAMS FAMILY PHOTOS
Christine and Jean Williams stand by an early ‘60s Shell Bazaar sign.