"Pacific" has always seemed a complete misnomer for the wild, raging, tempestuous ocean that pummels our western coast. But "Pacifica" is a fine name for the small community nestled beside it in the coastal fog, straddling Highway 1 just south of San Francisco. Out There spent a couple of days there last month, representing gay media on a wee press trip.
A veteran of many a press jaunt, OT finds they are generally misunderstood by civilians. It's not like we're lounging by the pool, sipping daiquiris all day. Our itineraries are usually packed full, from early in the morning until late at night, with sightseeing highlights, site tours and other media availabilities. We really learn about a place, in this case a small city just 10 minutes' drive time from our southern flank.
It's also a good opportunity for us to meet our colleagues in the media world. Over the years this has gone from publishers, fellow editors, reporters, columnists and travel writers to bloggers, micro-bloggers, tweeters and "influencers." In Pacifica we made the acquaintance of a young woman who changed clothes several times a day, celebrating her Size 0 wardrobe for Instagram moments; a retiree who parlayed his love for outdoor grilling and Stateside travel into a popular leisure blog; a website editor specializing in listicles; and a pair of correspondents from the largest Chinese-language TV network in North America, who disappeared shortly after the first "getting-to-know-you" dinner.
All of these people were worth meeting. Like most journos, they have curious minds and ask plenty of questions. We've met freelance writers this way who became contributors. We've absorbed wisdom and expertise from more experienced editors. We've learned what not to do.
We also learned new skills at a workshop for travel writers splashing around in the ever-expanding Twittersphere. It was so hashtag easy to generate meaningless hashtag content, which was then hashtag fodder for other hashtag writers and editors to respond to or hashtag retweet! All for one, and one for all, some valuable lessons logged.
Pacifica itself welcomed us with open arms. Our room at the Lighthouse Hotel overlooked the breakers of Rockaway Beach. We dined at Nick's, home of a famous Dungeness crab sandwich. We savored varietals at the wine bar A Grape in the Fog, and wondered at the providence of tarot card readings underway. We also visited Puerto 27 at the Pacifica Beach Hotel, the Devil's Slide Tap Room for a yummy lunch, and Pacific's holistic cannabis dispensary, the aptly-named Seaweed.
At the Pacifica Coastside Museum, a history museum in the Little Brown Church built in 1909 as a Presbyterian church, we learned that the original Monterey Jack cheese recipe was swiped from Pacifica. This trauma led us to try samples from Jason Tripp's local hooch distillery.
Sharp Park Golf Course is owned by the City and County of San Francisco, operated by our Rec and Parks Dept. The course Clubhouse we visited, built as a WPA project in 1932, houses a bar, restaurant and golf shop, and feels vintage.
The climax of our stay in Pacifica was an evening soiree at Sam's Castle. Henry McCloskey, the late grandfather of anti-war Congressman Pete McCloskey, built the great Gothic castle towering over the sea, which then saw lives as a speakeasy, an illegal abortion clinic, a brothel, and Coast Guard barracks during WWII. Bought and restored by the late Sam Mazza in 1958, the castle is now owned by a foundation and used for charitable purposes.
We also spent some quality time in our hotel room, editing these Arts pages for you dear reader, while the Pacific Ocean crashed and foamed outside our window. Time and tide wait for no man.