Live, love Loomis – small town perfection

If you’re guilty like me of spending any decent amount of time online, you, too, may have noticed the current trend of influencers proclaiming some experience to be an award-winning moment you surely are missing out on and didn’t know about until they told you.

“The most amazing, literally the best of, cannot believe it until you try it” sales pitch.

Here is a different sales pitch for you: what if every day you had free didn’t need to be a grand adventure? Or better yet, what if the grand adventure was exploring and enjoying the “most amazing” simple life?

Hundreds of small towns exist all around us, and each of them has a small bit of joy to appreciate, with no five-second hook needed.

The town of Loomis is a prime example of this. Slightly north of Folsom Lake, and not really known for being a pit stop or vacation destination, its downtown has more vacancies and property management offices than it does boutiques to stroll.

However, what does exist on its Main Street thrives like a beehive: two separate re-imagined fruit packing sheds and one lively community intersection of five restaurants. How can it be?

The formula for revitalization is simple but completely rests on two factors: Brave entrepreneurs with a vision and one mass of believers with spending power. Which is how these few businesses came to be anchors for Loomis, and other small towns should take note. Actually, they should take a drive and experience it in person.

High-Hand Nursery & Cafe is one, very long, fruit packing shed and the mothership of town; a walkable urban hike through many lands, we joke. Coffee shop, followed by cafe, rest by the koi pond, then stroll through the many dense and always blooming aisles of gardens, and you haven’t even arrived at the packing shed itself.

Once inside, however, a plethora of even more plants & garden decor stretch halfway through, with several additional shops tucked neatly within it all, selling olive oils, local art and gifts.

End this trek with a pause at the High-Hand Brewery, which hosts live music most days in what can only be described as a social hall where the best plans are laid out amongst friends and strangers.

Back out on to the main road which runs through downtown there isn’t much — a small smattering of two boutiques and a hardware store but the trees are abundant to keep you shaded as you make your way to the intersection of Taylor and Horseshoe Bar Road.

Fortunately, sprinkled along the walls from High-Hand down to Gander (the other fruit packing shed we’ll share more about) are dozens of murals showcasing the town’s history. Each mural is a representation of original fruit packing labels, and if you’re up for it I suggest a simple game of spotting and collecting photos of them all.

Assuming you aren’t interested in browsing for insurance policies, the next big upsell are the restaurants at the four-corner main intersection (you literally can’t miss it): Red’s Bistro, Il Pizzaiolo, LBB Gastropub, Taylor’s and Smithville.

Each with entirely unique and different vibes to fit your mood, from fine dining to nostalgic diner; but what isn’t really covered in Yelp reviews is a hidden gem right in plain sight: the communal playground, skate park, splash pad and train depot that shares this same intersection.

And even better still: the railroad tracks that bring the added attraction of watching trains go by while you lounge. What is it about trains that bring the kid-like awe out of us every time? It’s a reminder of those simple joys, right?

The last leg of this small town stretch ends with admiring the also revitalized Blue Goose fruit packing shed, which is now home to Gander Taphouse.

If you’re a train enthusiast with a penchant for beer, or a beer enthusiast with a penchant for train watching, this is our personal favorite hangout to satisfy both: their patio area feels like it’s within arm’s reach of slow moving trains.

The joy creeps back in with watching your pint glass vibrate, or pausing your conversation to pay your respects to the overpowering rumble of steel on steel while getting a front row seat to the Industrial Revolution rolling by.

Of course the buzz of a thriving downtown does not appeal to every day tripper, so a few more Loomis local highlights to explore include the Flower Farm Cafe (an expansive farm to appreciate and with a cafe on site), Casque Wines tasting room, Horton Iris Farm (open for many seasons, not just Iris season), Traylor Ranch Bird Sanctuary & Nature Preserve and, not to be overlooked, the north side of Folsom Lake with its abundance of trails, wildflower fields and hidden relics to unearth (perhaps another feature story in itself?).

The musing remains, however, as we continue to road trip around California: what small towns have perfectly captured the small joys worth experiencing? For certain there are many more towns just like Loomis.

To explore Loomis, check out www.visitplacer.com/locations/loomis, or better yet: make the drive!

California native Dannah Nielsen explores the lesser known areas of our state and shares her travels in hopes to inspire you to find new and adventurous ways to also enjoy California. For more inspiration, follow @Ca.love.fornia on Instagram