re: M31....remembering
M31 is also something I must check every time the weather allows it!
In 1996, I went to Tenerife and from the top of Mount Teide (or very near it), I could not only see M31 with the naked eye but also a blueish ellipse around the central buldge with 20x80 binoculars!!
It was kind of unconfortable as M31 was at the zenith! And so is it now, here too!
But here, like where you live, it's completely light-polluted...The pictures show many more stars than what the naked eye can see!
Cheers!
Raoul