Relax and Enjoy
• Private Inlet Beach • Private Dock/Pier
• Poolside Tiki Hut • Heated Pool & Hot Tub
• Interior Corridor • HOT Breakfast Buffet
• Flat Screen HDTV’s w/ over 50 HD channels
• In-Room Safe, Coffee & Hair Dryer
• iPhone/MP3 compatible guest room phones
• All Rooms have Private Balconies
• All Rooms are Non-Smoking
• Business Center • All Rooms have Microwave
& Refrigerator • Fitness Center • WiFi
• 24 Hour Gift Shop
(772) 595-0711 | 1230 Seaway Drive, Fort Pierce | www.HutchinsonPlazaHotel.com Mention PROMO Code IRM for a special rate.
48 Port St. Lucie Magazine
#1 in Fort Pierce
“About three years ago we agreed to add them to the trust,”
Grabhorn said adding with a laugh that after they’re gone the
two would probably change everything. Santino and Kelley
said Shell Bazaar should be preserved as much as possible.
“We want everything to stay just like Christine would like
it, to keep her legacy alive just like when she was growing up,
but we will probably update it once in a while,” Santino said.
“It has to be a labor of love because it is not a high-profit
business,” Christine said in between chatting with customers.
“We have a lot of reasonably priced items, which the kids love,
and some $100 shells and more expensive coral that people
travel here to buy. You have to work hard to make it work.
“Dennis calls me a social butterfly because I go around
and greet everyone, but I like to hear all the stories of the
last time they were here or say hello to the little ones who
are mesmerized by the gator heads and the spiny doghead
sharks-in-a-bottle.”
As customers constantly drop in, there is a wonderful
sense of nostalgia in the store. One woman pops a salt water
taffy in her mouth at the register with a look of pure delight;
two customers rake their hands through the bins of shells;
and a mother passes out money to her four children, telling
them they can buy anything under that amount. Off they go
searching through the sea stars, pirate gear, shell necklaces
WILLIAMS FAMILY PHOTOS
George and Jean Williams stand on the lot they bought for their shell shop
and ranch in 1953.
CHRISTINA TASCON
Trent Derocha and all the kids who come to the shell gift shop are mesmerized
by the gator heads and sharks-in-a-bottle.
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