4. An appreciation of the mundane

On the more “useless information” side of things, what would you do if the umbrella you’ve been carrying around suddenly breaks? Like me, your first instinct is to toss it with the trash.

Nancy Hoffman had a different idea, saving the umbrella sleeves that come along with them. Hoffman, after randomly finding a few in the back of a closet, started a museum “dedicated to the appreciation of the mundane in everyday life. It is about finding wonder and beauty in the simplest of things, and about knowing that there is always a story behind the cover.”

What started as something small in her kitchen is now a museum in Maine open to anyone looking for an interesting stop to see if they’re passing through Peaks Island.