Newcastle, Newcastle, CA

Newcastle runs along the old Placer County fruit line, and Main Street still looks like the shipping town it was. The long packing shed at 455 Main Street is the anchor, now home to a cheese shop, a pizza kitchen and an artists' gallery under one roof, just off Interstate 80. Homes are a mix of older cottages and farmhouses near the center and newer houses on rolling lots in the orchard country around it. Streets are narrow, yards tend toward big and a little wild, and a lot of properties still have a few fruit trees in back. The Newcastle Cheese Shop is the local lunch stop, known for generous sandwiches, especially the Rat Trap, and a deli case for cheese and meat by the pound. La Fornaretta at 455 Main Street turns out wood-fired pizza in the evenings, Wednesday through Sunday. In the same building, the Newcastle Packing Shed Artists Studio & Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to four, with about ten artists working in different mediums. Outside, Newcastle Town Square gives the center a place to sit, and the shoreline of Folsom Lake offers water and trails beyond town. Most people here walk a short loop around Main Street and then drive for everything else. Coffee is a drive-thru. The Daily Grind sits on Indian Hill Road and handles espresso and smoothies on the way to the freeway. Wild Groves, on Old State Highway, pours olive oil and balsamic samples and sells the bottles, which makes it a good gift stop. For a full grocery trip, the bigger stores are a few exits away in Auburn or Loomis. The town is tiny. Main Street is quiet by evening, and daily life splits between a couple of blocks and the interstate. On a weekday noon the line out the door at the cheese shop is about as busy as it gets.