ursamajor

I spent eleven summers here with the Berkeley-Albany YMCA residence camps program, and I can’t possibly hope to express how much it affected me and what it means to me. Eleven years of campfire and hiking and swimming and games and teamwork and the least religious yet most spiritual “Morning Watch” of any Y-Camp program. Even during my most miserable and lonely middle-school years, I knew I had this to look forward to, and that I had true friends here who understood what this place meant to me and to them.

Ugh. I mean, an airport’s an airport, but you get what you pay for. Which generally means that you fly into BWI because it’s cheaper than flying into National or Dulles would have been.

It’s much better if you’re either: a) going to Baltimore, or b) not trying to navigate around the area using public transportation.

Fun place to go sea kayaking.

Gorgeous, even if you’re not a skier, and a bit off the beaten track so it’s less touristy than other similar places.

It took me almost 28 years, plus having moved out of state and been gone for 10 years, to finally come back and get to eat here. Worth the wait.

Grew up here. Miss it every day.

Oh, this is one of my favorite places in New York. I try to go every time I come here, which, granted, leaves less time for everything else. But they’ve usually got some interesting visiting exhibits, and I just love the planetarium.

It’s a bit of a tourist trap, yes. But there are lots of cute little shops to wander through, a couple of dozen good restaurants, several bookstores, and Burdick’s.

Hahaha, it’s just a hallway. A long one, filled with professors’ offices, and often there are interesting things to read on the walls, but it really is just a 825-foot long (or 148 smoot long) hallway.

It’s probably more interesting to visit during MIThenge, which occurs in late January and mid-November.

Try to avoid tourist season, but do go. It’s gorgeous and cavernous and incredible.