whiteriverjct.com ~ whiteriverjct.net
White River Junction is a former railroad hub that has reinvented itself as an artists' colony and has 19th-century storefronts more quirky than quaint. The Main Street Museum showcases a collection of oddities that includes gallstones said to be Elvis Presley's (58 Bridge St., 802/356-2776, mainstreetmuseum.org), and The Center for Cartoon Studies has lectures by cartoonists such as Garry Trudeau (94 S. Main St., 802/295-3319, cartoonstudies.org). The Tip Top building, a former bakery, is home to about 40 artists' studios, the Tip Top Café (85 N. Main St., 802/295-3312, tiptopcafevt.com), and the Cooler Gallery, which exhibits the works of international artists (802/295-8008, coolergallery.biz). Over at Revolution, Kim Souza sells espresso and indie-designed and vintage clothes (26 N. Main St., 802/295-6487, revolutionvintage.com).
White River Junction has decent nightlife. You can catch a play by the Northern Stage theater company (12 N. Main St., 802/296-7000, northernstage.org) and then eat dinner to live jazz at Elixir, a lounge in an old freight warehouse (188 S. Main St., 802/281-7009, elixirrestaurant.com).
A Welcome Center at the town center railroad station has good information about the town and the area, as well as a railroad museum.
(More about the area at: http://www.ctrivertravel.net/white-river.htm)