I'll add what I think about gyms: I belong to the YMCA, which has a decent sized free weight area, plenty of cable-type machines, and an infinite number of helpful dudes willing to spot me, give me pointers on form, etc. I stick to a few basic exercises most of the time, though I don't do the same ones every workout. I lift 3x a week (or more if I have time to split sets, which usually I don't) and I either take a long walk or do some machine cardio (faves are arc trainer on high resistance and rowing machine, where I can do sprints without hurting my knees). My Y offers this and there is very little posing, pickup action or BS...the other gyms around here are more expensive and offer plenty of places for ladies to do 2 pointless hours of elliptical per day.

I did take a basic weight training class in college and I would recommend having someone knowledgeable help you get started lifting. At my Y (may be different at others) you can buy a single training session pretty cheaply; I would do that if I were a complete newbie.

I always have a goal. Last year it was healing an injury; this year it's doing 10 pull-ups (currently I'm stuck at 6).