(Published in 7 Nights 2008-2009)

Anyone who thinks of White River Junction as a place to hop off the highway for a bathroom break and a quick burger hasn't been there lately. Over the past decade, the old railroad town at the intersection of interstates 89 and 91 has experienced a renaissance. A theater company, a cartoon-art school and a tapas bar have all taken up residence in this burg that's seeing better days.

The Main Street Museum in White River Junction offers an interesting mix of international and quirky Americana curiosities, such as this summer’s “Tramp and Hobo Symposium.” Want something even stranger? Check out the “Flora and Fauna Collection,” which, according to the museum’s website, represents “invasive species from the infrastructure of an economically marginal Vermont downtown. Our dried cats are not true mummies; they are merely dehydrated.”