A lot of it depends on the atmosphere, your proximity to the ocean, and light pollution. For instance, when I was a kid, we could see the Milkyway from our yard on the outskirts of town. Now, you cannot see it here anymore. You have to go way out of town to get away from the light pollution. It is sad. My kids have never seen it like I saw it. Even when we were out west last summer, it was not as good as it was when I was a kid.
My dad would get out the binoculars and we'd point them up there. WOW!!! It is amazing how many stars there are that you cannot see with your naked eye. He also built a nice big reflector telescope and we would look at nebulas, rings of Saturn, craters in the moon, etc... really cool stuff.