Much of the land along A1A, then a two-lane road without streetlights, was undeveloped. There were a lot of palmettos with snakes in them, said Jim Bazemore, who owns Perry s Ocean Edge Resort, one of the city s oldest hotels. Today, Bazemore and his wife operate the hotel, which has grown from 12 units to 204. It was quite unique to run a big hotel on septic tanks. Many others remained, though, and today the Shores has a mix of both small and large hotels.
Tourism is still the city s lifeblood.
At the Shores north end, it s difficult to tell where one city begins and one ends. There is no break in the endless parade of hotels, T-shirt shops, restaurants and miniature golf venues. We like to advertise as the quiet end of the beach, Bazemore said. Because of the introduction of condos and time shares, the Shores also is able to attract another type of tourist today - the snowbird. Many visitors now come to the Shores for several months, or half a year, instead of just a week or two.