What’s happening at the Mystical Mermaid!

Rebekah & Brian are the new owners at The Mystical Mermaid

It was a great phoenix story – after the fire in 2002 destroyed the block downtown (here are photos, from the archives), Rick & Wendy brought the Mystical Mermaid back better than ever in that same spot, next to China Pearl on Spring Street. A couple of years ago, they moved the popular Friday Harbor store over next to the ferry lanes, and now the store is under new ownership, as Brian & Rebekah Moore took over June first.

Drop by and see the place – it’s always fun to see what new things people add to a successful shop.

I got a chance to check in with Brian & his family, who are newcomers to the island. Here’s more:

Q: Hey, Brian! So, where are y’all from?

A: I was born in  Oregon and Rebekah was born in Southern California. I met Rebekah when I moved to Southern California for college. (We have been together 16 years and married 11 years this August).  Rebekah and I moved to Port Orchard so I could finish my schooling at Seattle University.

Q: What were you doing before moving to the island?

A: Immediately out of college, I got a job as a research scientist at the University of Washington in the Department of Microbiology, where I worked for ten years. I still do some part time work for a lab in the Department of Allergies and Infectious disease.

Q: How did you choose the islands to move your family to?

A: Rebekah and I have been visiting the San Juan Islands for the past twelve years and we spent our honeymoon in Friday Harbor (and our favorite store on all those visits was The Mystical Mermaid! We never would’ve imagined we would someday be the owners!)

Q: How are the kids doing with the move? It looks like you’re getting involved in the community pretty quickly….

A: We have four children: Wyatt (9), Chloe (7), Landon (2 and a half) and Owen, who will be one in July.  We moved to Friday Harbor at the end of May and took over at The Mystical Mermaid June first.

Rebekah and I are both very active in our kids’ lives. I have coached both Wyatt and Chloe in soccer and Rebekah has been team mom for the past six years. I recently became certified in Washington for coaching kids up to U9 in soccer.  Rebekah has always volunteered in the kids’ classrooms and has helped organize various events and recently took classes to be a certified Girl Scout Leader.

Currently she is busy taking the kids to swimming lessons and an awesome pottery program called Club Mud.  One of the most amazing things we have noticed about the island is how kid friendly it is here –  there is so much for kids to do! After two weeks living on the island, Wyatt came up to me and said, “Dad, people are so nice here!” and I told him I couldn’t agree more.

Rebekah and I have met so many wonderful and interesting people and we look forward to meeting many more.  We’re getting involved already: Just a couple of weeks into coming to the Mermaid, we have helped sponsor The Bits and Spurs Summer Horse Show (gaming class)  and Rebekah is putting together a nice gift to auction for The Animal Protection Society here in Friday Harbor.  It is our opinion that every little bit helps no matter how small or large a gift is, or if it is just volunteering (every little bit helps).

My dad and stepmom live in Friday Harbor (Pat Moore and Claudia Fullerton – owner of Island Studios) and have been instrumental to Rebekah and I in providing support and advice to get The Mystical Mermaid up and running.

It’s great to be here!

The Mystical Mermaid has a wide variety of gifts & things - and some mermaids, too, like you'd expect. Drop by & say hey & to the new owners!

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.