Places I Thought Were {Heaven} at Various Ages of My Life

Any museum gift shop – Washington, D.C. (ages 5-8)

Chuck E. Cheese – Various locations (ages 7-9)

St. Joseph’s Gymnasium – Needham, Massachusetts (ages 10-12)

Rookies Baseball Card Shop – Needham, Massachusetts (ages 11-13)

Spencer’s Gifts – Various locations (ages 13-14)

Blockbuster Video – Needham, Massachusetts (age 14)

My friend Andy’s House – Needham, Massachusetts (ages 14-15)

Any friend’s house where no parents were home… usually Andy’s – Needham, Massachusetts (ages 16-20)

Camp Bauercrest – Amesbury, Massachusetts (ages 16-19)

Dylan’s Candy Bar – New York City (age 17)

Hippodrome, GW Student Center – Washington, D.C. (age 18)

[REDACTED] liquor store that accepted a student ID in lieu of actual ID,  – Washington, D.C. (age 19)

ESPNZone – Washington, D.C. (age 19)

Fenway Park – Boston, Massachusetts (age 20-23)

Rome, Italy (ages 20-21)

Georgetown – Washington, D.C. (age 21)

Adams Morgan – Washington, D.C. (age 22-26)

15th hole at Stonewall Golf Course – Manassas, Virginia (age 23)

Any bar with Big Buck Hunter and Touchtunes – Various locations (age 25-28)

Manuel Antonio National Park – Costa Rica (age 27)

Wednesday nights at The Bottom Line – Washington, D.C. (age 27-34)

Bethany Beach, Delaware (age 28-36)

Any campfire anywhere – Various locations (age 29)

Menchie’s self-serve frozen yogurt – Washington, D.C. (age 30)

Ras Kutani – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (age 31)

A plate of spicy strawberry pasta at Rose’s Luxury – Washington, D.C. (age 32)

Giant Forest – Sequoia National Park, California (age 33)

Reyes Pizza – Belmar New Jersey (age 33-35)

The bottom of the Grand Canyon – Arizona (age 35)

Anywhere outside, off my couch (age 36)