Dan, being from Wisconsin I can't give much advice to specific places. But I will say that it is unlikely anyone in this hobby would willingly just point out their hot spots!

What I can do is give a few pointers. First you need to know that unless you are in a very rural backwater area, it's highly unlikely that anything public and easily accessible has not been detected already at some point. Now, that does not mean every park has been pounded into submission and dug out to 2 feet down-just that all the easy targets have been picked. Usually though the remaining good targets are going to be harder to get to, or are masked by a lot of trash and/or iron. So you will have to work much harder (small coil moving REAL slow) in those areas to find the best keepers under the garbage. Of course you may have to dig a lot more trash too, but that will also clean up the area allowing you to find more keepers.

Secondly, often great places either may not be easily accessed such as needing to take a long hike, or having to get through some deep brush, swamps, and so forth. Also, many good spots may be too small or inconspicuous to be noticed by other casual detectorists such as nooks or breezeways at public buildings, or the areas between the sidewalk and the street. Also try street or sidewalk tear outs. Those give temporary access to places usually sealed and often hide very old coins or relics (Think "time capsule"!) Personally I have also had good luck at some schools and other publicly owned properties.

Third option often takes a LOT of time and effort, but can in itself be really enjoyable and can give something to do on days you can't be outside actually detecting-and that is RESEARCH! Go online and look up old platt maps of the areas you might want to hunt. Look up old aerial photos and compare them to new photos or google earth to see what has changed. For example, maybe an old school was torn down, but the lot is now vacant. Scan google earth to look for possible cellar holes or ruins of old home sites, etc. There are tons of ways to research-just think of your goal and how to achieve it, such as going online and reading through old newspapers or go to the local historical society to discover more "forgotten" history.

Lastly, the one I have not tried yet is knocking on doors and asking permission to detect on their property. Some here seem to have great success with that, and many of the great finds I have seen posted here have come from permissions.

I hope this helps you locate more items. I hear the GTI is a really good machine, although some articles I have read say it has a few issues. So let us know how the Garrett works out for you, and keep us posted on your progress. We love pics and stories here!