Metal Mining in the Mitten

For Christmas last year, my mom bought my dad a metal detector. It wasn't really a surprise, since my dad had spent weeks (or maybe months) dropping not-so-subtle hints for the toy, but he was thrilled by the gift nonetheless. Since December, my parents have been scouting their back yard, making weekend trips to the beach, and combing empty playgrounds in hopes of finding a few lost treasures. So, of course, when they drove up from Virginia for a visit last week, we had to see what types of hidden gems Michigan had to offer.

We decided to go to Lakeshore Park, which I think used to be the old Walled Lake Amusement Park site (or at least part of it). Initially, my parents found the usual--bottle caps, empty cans, and some spare change. Not really anything to write home about, but that didn't deter them from continuing. Personally, I was more interested in leaving the 30-degree weather behind and going home to curl up under a blanket, but preoccupied my time by taking pictures of little details around the park. Well, and by hopping around and burying my face into the front of my coat.

My parents went back to the park (without me) the next evening, and decided to stay in town an extra day once they started finding piles of dimes. Unfortunately, we woke up the next morning to find a snow-covered ground, but after a day of mental and physical pacing, my dad deciding that the snow had melted just enough for the start of another search. In reality, I don't think the snow had melted at all, but hey--when you're that excited about something, why let a few inches of frozen water stand in your way?

Luckily, the third excursion was worth the wait. My parents ended up finding handfuls of dimes (enough to buy a nice dinner) and an interesting lapel pin, among other trinkets. The verdict is still out on this one, but my parents reasoned that if the site they were on was once part of the old amusement park, then all those dimes may be leftover from an old coin-toss carnival game. Makes sense to me, unless some random soda machines used to occupy the spot. I think a little more research may be in order for this one. If you're an expert on local history and/or the old amusement park site, I'd love to learn more--feel free to leave a comment below.

In the meantime, if you'd like to read more about my parents' metal detecting excursions and see photos of their recent finds, you can visit their blog right here.