I arrived home from work yesterday to find my new metal detector waiting patiently on my doorstep. Woohoo! That means that today will mark the first day of my metal detecting adventures–even if it will be a mere thirty-six degrees. At least I don’t live in Buffalo, NY!

Anyway, in my eagerness to hit the ground running… or rather metal detecting… I spent the last week seeking permission to all the places on my first ever  metal detecting wish list:

1) The Old Road – I was looking at old topography maps of my house and discovered an old road that ran behind my house in the early 1900s. There were three houses on the road. Two were gone by the 1940s. The other was just demolished a few years ago.

Unfortunately, two of the houses were on land owned by a local developer. His website only gives contact to his sales representative who is quite the roadblock–literally and figuratively. He ignored my first email, so I sent a follow-up yesterday.

He eventually forwarded a response from the developer, who would “prefer that you (I) stayed off the property because of liability issues.” Bummer–my first rejection as a metal detectorist. Had I not psyched myself up so much for the discovery, perhaps the rejection wouldn’t have been so catastrophic.

So I learned a lesson… I learned not to get excited about any location until I have the proper permissions granted, otherwise I will be setting yourself up for a letdown.

Even with my first rejection, I am trying to look on the bright side–I spoke with all my other neighbors in person and they were all gracious enough to grant me permission to metal detect. So I do have permission to detect on the dirt road leading to the old houses and permission to detect where at least one of the three houses had stood.

In a last ditch effort, I was able to contact the daughter-in-law of the developer and she vowed to put in a good word for me with the developer. As of this morning, I haven’t heard anything… but my fingers are crossed.

2) The Union Hotel – There is an old hotel/tavern that I used to work at and actually lived in a few years back. It was built in the 1860s and has a very exciting history. During the civil war, it was seized by the confederates and the widow’s walk was used as a lookout.

Then it was purchased and owned by Adolphus Busch–of Busch Beer–during which it hosted a speakeasy and whiskey smuggling operation out of the dirt basement… which is still dirt.

Could you imagine the relics in that basement and on that property?! Oi.

Well I contacted the current owners, who happen to be a law firm. The man I spoke with needed to speak with his partners before giving permission. Unfortunately, a few hours later, the answer came back as a no. As much as the rejection stings, I can understand the motives behind it. I am sure there is a lot of confidential discussions and happenings in the building.

The building may be off limits for now, but it is not off my wish list. I will cling to the hope of someday metal detecting there. After all, the building has been around for over one hundred and fifty years. I doubt it will be going anywhere anytime soon. Someday, I will uncover the secrets of the old Shepherdstown Hotel.

3) The Neighbor’s Spring House – My neighbor once told me a story that the confederates had stopped at the stone spring house on her property while travelling to Gettysburg. Her story made me wonder where else they may have explored on her property or if they had left anything behind.

Of the three places on my wish list, this is the one place I have full permission to detect. It may not be what I was hoping for, but I’m remaining optimistic. As a rookie metal detecting hobbyist, finding anything from the civil war would put me on cloud nine.

If I’m going to metal detect, I’m going to do it right, which–in my mind–means asking permission rather than forgiveness. I understand that everyone has their own methods, but I’ve never done well with confrontation and being cursed off private property is not how I want to start out in the hobby.

I live in a prime location for metal detecting–in my mind anyways. I live only twenty minutes from Gettysburg and five minutes from the Appalachian Trail–both of which I know are off limits–but I’m hoping the properties surrounding these locations may yield some relics if I earn the proper permissions. I also have access to the Cumberland County Zoo which was closed in the 1970s. Ad last but not least, George and Martha Washington vacationed in the town beside mine at Ye Old Sulfur Springs Resort which burned down a very long time ago.

I guess the bottom line is that I know where I want to be with my metal detector, its all just a game of getting the right permissions and not getting too psyched out about any one location.

Happy Hunting to All.