I grew up on a dead-end street in a very old north eastern town. Long before the town was established early settlers and Indians roamed the land. At the end of my street was a dirt road leading deep into a state forest. Much of it only accessible via atv. A few hundred meters up the dirt road, hidden in the woods, and off to the side was an old foundation.

Truthfully, to me, at that age, it looked more like a deep hole in the ground with a bunch of rocks around the edges. I didn’t think much of it. I was young, naive and didn’t know much about much. As I grew a little older I found an old Buffalo Nickel on the dirt road. I probably kicked it up while riding a bike over the dirt. I thought finding that nickel was cool. It could have fell out of a stage coach as it was riding through the road back in the day.

I lived on that dead-end street in the 1980’s. I knew about metal detectors. However, they weren’t nearly as popular as they are today. Nor was the technology as advanced as the technology found in today’s metal detectors. Plus, I didn’t know enough to get one and bring it up to the old foundation.

In the early days of settlement, I’d imagine most people buried jars of coins as a normal security measure. With a good metal detector, who knows what I might have uncovered. Eventually, I moved away. Though I kept the memories of the foundation and coin.

Fast forward almost thirty years later. I lived many many hundreds of miles away from that dirt road. I was much older and just married. It’s the first day of our honeymoon and we’re chilling at the beach. I’m wearing a brand-new shinny wedding ring. The weather is great, and I can’t wait to get in the water. I enter the ocean and dive under. As I do I watch my wedding ring fly off my finger, sink to the bottom of the ocean and disappear into the sand.

After freaking. Then thoroughly searching the entire area, the ring couldn’t be found. Neither my wife at the time, nor I knew what to do. We kind of both stood there, not wanting to leave the spot, while knowing the chances of finding it were slim. As we stood in the ocean, I looked down the beach. There was an older man in the water with a metal detector. The second I saw him I knew he’d be the best chance we had to find the ring.

We called him over and explained what happened. He walked over near where I was standing and waved his metal detector a few times just above the sand. He stopped. Reached down with a scoop and scooped up a bunch of sand. He sifted it through his scooper. I watched the sand fall back into the ocean. Then, presto. At the bottom of his scoop sat my wedding ring. He found it a few feet from where we were looking. He saved our entire honeymoon. We graciously thanked him and offered him money. He wouldn’t accept the money and went on his way.

After that day, I started thinking about the old foundation and metal detectors. I researched them on line. They had become extremely popular. And the technology was quite impressive. Many were able to be completely submerged under water and could detect metal buried deep in the ground.

I purchased a metal detector. It was completely submersible and very cool. Even though I looked at it mostly as a hobby, I couldn’t wait to get to the beach. I thought about the different cool trinkets I might find. The first year or so I was able to make it to the beach a bunch of times. I’d search in the water, the sand and near the docks, while the wife got some sun. I’d spend almost the entire time looking for different trinkets and treasures.

Though, due to many of life’s struggles I was only able to make it to the beach with the metal detector a few additional times during the next ten years. During that span I owned two different metal detectors. The first one I purchased was a Fisher 1280x Aquanaut.

The Fisher was a great metal detector. It never gave me problems and I found it to be durable. I felt it exceeded expectations for its price point. Unfortunately, I didn’t own the 1280x Aquanaut very long. Due to reasons not related to the metal detector, I had to sell it.

Eventually, I was able to get another metal detector. I got the Garrett Ace 350. This is a great metal detector in every way, shape, and form. It is partially submersible. It is extremely efficient and could detect even the deepest of objects. Not to mention, it is extremely modestly priced.

The few times I was able to go detecting, I didn’t find any items with a monetary value. I mostly went to beaches that were thoroughly searched by various metal detector enthusiasts. Plus, most days I was only able to stay a few hours. However, I did find the time spent at the beach valuable. I always enjoyed searching in the ocean, digging up bottle caps along with the occasional coin. It provided an interesting and trouble-free way to spend time. I still have a Garrett Ace 350. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll come across another ancient foundation. This time I won’t let the opportunity slip away.