That's ok! I've only read up to page 29 a couple weeks ago and can't stop thinking about it!
Hey everyone!!
I just popped in to look at recent finds and was thrilled to see folks still talking about the days of the Iceberg!
A little update on me: I cashed all my belongings in (except for my detectors!) over two years ago and left on my motorcycle to travel the world. I've been on the road basically since June 2018.
15 weeks ago, a few days after I entered Brazil, all the borders in South America closed due to the Covid crisis. I haven't been able to leave since.
I'm renting a nice apartment in a small resort area right near the beach in Praia do Esteleiro Brazil. It's entering their Winter (off season) and a lot of things are closed here. Brazil is having a very rough time with the virus with much death and suffering, mostly in the favellas (ghettos) of the larger cities on the coast Sao Poulo and Rio, about 8 and 10 hours north of me respectively. It's quiet here. The owners of the place I'm staying (Pousada Dona Ema) are understanding of my situation, supportive and warm people. I occasionally go out for short rides just to keep the cobwebs clear. Being stuck here this long after so many months traveling and living the overlander lifestyle has been very difficult. Shipment options for shipping the bike home from Brazil are crazy expensive, as ar costs for one-way flights for me. And I do not want to abandon the bike. Not after the places it's taken me (20 countries so far!).
I still love detecting! My good friend Don Holden has a Youtube channel called Detection Connection, and if you look at his videos you'll see a number of them with me in them, before I left on this trip. Donny and I chat often and he has his Deus waiting for me (My DFX was acting up when I left, and she needs put to bed lol. She was a great machine!) When (if) I get to ride back home safely, I'm thinking of an Equinox 800. Donny absolutely kills it with his 30/30. The Deus is a great machine, but hard to learn it's sounds. It doesn't play the beautiful symphony the DFX did. In order for me to make it back, I'd need to enter Bolivia from Brazil, then into Peru, Ecuador and then into Colombia. From there find passage for me and the bike to Panama and continue back to the USA. These are all countries I've already ridden through, and all those freaking border crossings were a pain in the ass even before the virus hit. So....the future is unwritten. Anyone that actually remembers me, rest assured I'm still kickin. And longing to swing a coil once again.
Thanks to everyone that enjoyed the Iceberg saga. That being said, I think it's time to let the cat out of the bag as far as it's actual location!
A few folks kind of guessed what KIND of location it was along this thread, so Bob and I stopped posting certain finds that were too revealing as to their origin.
Now, the property is shut down tight. Back then, we had permission to hunt it from the then-owner. I know folks that live right nearby, and trust me when I say this. If you're found there with a detector, or even walking your dog, you're going on a trip to jail!
The Iceberg was Chippewa Lake Park!
It was an amusement park that opened in 1878 and closed in 1978. In the early days it was a picnic area and we did find some coinage from the early days back then. Most of the oldest stuff we showed you folks were Barbers and a few Seated. Yes, there was a LOT more stuff found that we never revealed!
It started when someone told us of a hole in the fence and a path cut into the overgrowth. We went to look and ask for permission to enter then saw workers who were there at the bequest of the owner, pulling valuable copper cables and other valuable recyclables. They were friendly and interested at first and granted permission after calling the owner. Also, part of the agreement was that we would act as "informants", letting them know about others trespassing. But, the more we hunted it, the less we saw them, and eventually we had the place to ourselves. A TON of coins were found under the still-standing "Tumblebug" ride. There was sooo much rusted ferrous in the ground from the track's rails rusting and falling that we literally found many many coins just digging on our hands and knees. They would just fall out in front of us! It was VERY exciting as you can imagine.
The "wheat field" where we found thousands of wheat pennies, was an area in front of an outdoor stage near the lake shore where outdoor events were held, including Jungle Larry's Outdoor Adventure. Early in that area's days though (verified from old BW photos) was a large group of penny-pitch kiosks. THey would spread saw dust around to fight muddy grass, set up kiosks where you would pitch pennies for goldfish, etc. Many years later, when we first found that area, it's hard to describe how many coins we dug from that spot! It was jaw-dropping.
An area underneath the old large wooden coaster (was still standing then...it's gone now) we found TONS of silver quarters and halves. The area in the middle of the old wooden kiddie coaster was loaded with Barber silver.
One area we never figured out was the swimming beach. Old photos show thousands of people in the water in the early 1900's. The exact same area (we could still see the exact same light posts in the 1910 photos) was overgrown like Vietnam with cattails and impenetrable weeds. Man of man, if someone could pull that stuff out, dredge off the top layer of detritus and mud...that would I guarantee you yield an untold amount of old gold rings. My friend that lives down the street is still keeping in the loop as far as access to the beach area. We did dig a "sample" area there, about 5 foot square, and had to go down almost TWO FEET of crap to get to sand, and just in that small square pulled multiple silvers.
Anyways...that's the story morninglory!
If any of you like motorcycle or travel stories, I have an active blog, going since April of 2018, with over 500,000 views! You can see lots of pictures from my travels there! Here is a link:
https://advrider.com/f/threads/cycl...calhado-em-praia-do-estaleiro-brazil.1296625/
I also have a Youtube channel with some video clips from my motorcycle journey. Here is a link to that!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQWNVJC2V2jKvDYwsp9HMKw?view_as=subscriber
Keep digging everyone! Do good research. Fill your holes. And best of luck. I'll check back in here once in a while. Right now, I've got nothing better to do!
