wow! thanks guys. there are a lot of old buildings around here in Brazil indiana and 3 parks as well as a 4h park and highway 40 cut's right through the center of town. which is also historic. i have been doing a lot of reading on detecting and learned creek beds can also be a good place to detect and ball parks and the like. oh and my detecter is a garret ace 300. thanks for the welcome and the advice i'll keep everybody updated