When visiting a new town or city it is always a good idea to make the local visitors bureau your first point of call.  Almost every place has some points of special interest that require local knowledge to learn about and locate.
So when we set out to stay in Pacifica and learn about the city and what it has to offer our first stop was to the office of the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.  There we met Jamie Monozon who is chief executive officer.
She had all kinds of suggestions for us and much written material as well.
 Pacifica which is currently celebrating its 66th year as a California city.  Situated only a few miles from San Francisco Pacifica has through the years been able  to develop its own decor, ambiance and services that are very much its own identify.
Geography has played a role in this development of a city that has managed to maintain an image of a small friendly community while being surrounded by larger more dense cities on three sides.  To the north San Francisco, to the east, a range of mountains, separate it from the vast populations of the Bay Area Peninsula.
On our recent visit to Pacifica we immediately noticed this small community friendliness with almost everyone we met.  Here people have time to get to know each other and are most willing to welcome and aid visitors.  This framed by the scenic rugged Pacific Ocean shoreline that here alternates between sandy beaches and rugged rocky headlands.
Besides offering all the basic services of the community Pacifica has much to offer the visitor.  There are a number of beautiful inns and hotels with frontage by the ocean including The Lighthouse Hotel which we stayed.   Also some exceptional restaurants, some with an ethnic cuisine, that also took in the beauty of the coast and sea.
At the Best Western's Lighthouse Hotel our room offered, besides a long list of amenities, a view of the surf breaking just yards from our full glass patio window.  We had much to do in exploring what Pacifica has to offer but our hotel and room showed much of its seaside beauty.
To learn about Pacifica's early history Jamie recommended a visit to the Little Brown Church and its historian Kathleen Manning.  After breakfast we were there in a very short time.  This was another joy about Pacifica, every place we visited was just a few minutes away.
Little Brown Church has a history of its own.  It was built in 1910 just a short distance from the railroad station.  In that era there was a railroad, named Ocean Shore Railroad, that extended from San Francisco along the coast to Santa Cruz.
Over decades the church enjoyed many roles including services, community center and meeting place, a public school and movie house, than headquarters for the Pacifica Police Department.  Now a project under the title Pacifica Community Museum Center has taken over after an extensive renovation.
All of this was related to us by Kathleen Manning who is executive director of the new museum.  Along with Docent Paul Slavers we toured the museum which includes memorabilia from the Ocean Shore Railroad, which ceased operations i 1920,  as well as the early history of the region dating back to the explorations of the Spanish who discovered the region.
The Little Brown Church Museum is located at 1850 Francisco Blvd., in Pacifica.  For hours call 650 359-5462, on the web at www.pacificahistory.org.