Sometimes, the greatest discoveries are found in the most unexpected places — your home town, the restaurant you walk by daily, that run-down shack with the broken window. You do not have to drive far, or really drive at all to find the hidden treasures that we breeze by daily. The trick is to pretend that you have never been there before.

I observed my sister, Jillian, experience Annville — the small, church-crammed town where she attends Lebanon Valley College — as if she had never visited. Although she works downtown at a restaurant and a physical therapy clinic, she had never ventured into the small shops sprinkled along the main street.

In one of the three candle shops we explored, a Yorkie-type dog greeted us with soft, dainty kisses on our noses. Jillian definitely said that she would return to the store, but whether for the farmhouse knick-knacks or the dog named Izzy, I am not sure.

Farther down the street, we found an antique shop that sold suitcases with drawers, old wooden crates, a creaking crib, an old-fashioned drying rack and much more. My favorite item, however, was a peacock lamp bedazzled with gems that was meant to sit on top of a TV.

The store owner told us that when TVs were first gaining popularity, people thought that watching their shows in the dark was bad for their eyesight. I thought this was hilarious because to this day my dad still insists that we turn on an additional light while we watch TV or a movie.

The last store that we wandered into was by far the greatest find of the day. Aptly named the First Floor Attic, it was a junk-filled maze that seemed to grow behind each clutter-jammed bookshelf. We were pulled into time periods preserved by the haphazardly stacked seasoning containers, albums, wrenches, antique toy cars and old dusty bottles, along with drinking glasses plastered with blue Smurfs and the creepy smile of Mayor McCheese.

Jillian and I each found treasures tucked into the crannies of the First Floor Attic. I bought a long-necked liquor bottle, dark green with the raised letters “Bénédictine” wrapped around the bottle’s curved, fat base. Jillian bought the ultimate find — an emptied Budweiser beer can that had been made into a wind-up music box.

So explore, be a stranger in your own town and find an adventure, a story, or at the very least a knick-knack that will clutter your living space.

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