Freak Factory in Mission Beach, San Diego, California

Mission Beach, the thin strip of land separating the manmade Mission Bay from the mighty Pacific Ocean, is populated by some of the hippest people on the planet. This is a surf-manic part of town, and any business that enforces the 'No shirt, No shoes = No service' policy would go out of style a lot sooner than a printed Hawaiian shirt would.

Though, curiously, what is it about the printed Hawaiian shirts that make them such staple items in coastal gift shops? They even manage to take up a lot of room at the Freak Factory, the adorably freaky souvenir shop at the corner of Mission Blvd and Portsmouth Ct just north of Santa Clara in Mission Beach.

Guarded and patrolled by Monkey, the mild-manner chocolate mutt who seems to enjoy nothing more than to casually preside over the sidewalk while watching his mistress carve out another freakin'ly awesome design onto a piece of wood at the front of the store, the Freak Factory is a miniature jungle of self-contained freakiness that embodies everything that is cool about this neighborhood of San Diego. It is jam packed with eclectic and artsy items for fun-loving and green-living folks who love woods and handmade knits and knots... and even burnt incense.

For all the merchandise they had stuffed into this small-ish place, everything is quite well organized. The counter running along the right side of the store holds handmade laces (neck and wrist and ankle) with anything from native-ish fish bone to hook to skull and crossbones and even Che (yeah, Che... imagine that!). Tiki poles, mugs (lots of Munktiki stuff), and handcrafted carved and painted wood blocks on the wall (along with other Caribbean style head-shop items... They keep the whole collection fun and light-hearted, though. No real woodoo channeling here). The back of the store has glass works and tabacco stuff along with decorated boxes.

The left side is stocked with mostly clothing and poster. Mostly in very interestingly psychedelic print pattern or Hawaiian style button shirts and shorts... Back in downtown area I've never seen any local wearing prints like that (actually I only know one person who wears Hawaiian print shirt regularly and he was an ROTC student back at St. Louis University!)... But some hidden population of folks must obviously be buying them up since they show up in all the gift shops near the beach! Popping up all over the places are quirky headwear, some being fashionably sported by a preposterously smiley (though thankfully not quite authentic, when it comes to material) skull! Up front is a well organized vertical stack of humorous and hip wall posters (I avoid them since they are so tempting and I'm running out of non-postered wall space).... and a good collection of burn incenses from India and Sri Lanka.

Walking around in this shop is almost like being transported into an Indiana Jones film... You sort of expect a giant bolder to suddenly roll off one of the shelves or for arrows to suddenly fly out of one of the grining skulls... or for the Tiki to suddenly come alive and try to strike up a conversation in Sanskrit or something.

The folks here are really friendly and helpful. They'll let you browse the store in peace, but if you need any help finding anything or have question about some items, they really know everything they carry in the store very intimately... And, considering some of the wackier stuff on display there (some really awesomely preserved stuffed blowfish hanging from the ceiling included), that could be a bit scary!

Being located on Mission Blvd in Mission Beach, of course, makes parking a bit tricky (I get there by bus. Either #8 or #9 will get you there from a different direction), though there is a good size parking lot just 2 ½ blocks away on the bay-side of Santa Clara Pl to the south. If you are ever in San Diego area you should spare a day visiting the area (you can do Sea World in the morning, then boat around Mission Bay in the afternoon, dropping in for lunch along Mission Blvd's rows of burger and fish taco joints, shop at Freak Factory before walking 2 blocks west to catch the sun setting into the Pacific Ocean from the beach. If only everyone can enjoy a day like that every once in a while the world would be such a freakin' awesome place, wouldn't it?

Freak Factory: 3742 Mission Blvd.(at Portsmouth Ct), San Diego, CA 92109. Tel. (858) 488-4924 Email: freakstore@aol.com