Anyone here actually from Monterey?

Me 2!

Lived there for several years. Loved visiting Cannery Row, and I find it ironic that Monterey has embraced Steinbeck when, during the years depicted in his books the upper crust thought he was a bum. I often visited the site of the collision between Ed Rickett's car and the Del Monte Express, where "Doc" lost his life.

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae

went to college there also wrote 1st CR script MGM turned down before they made this film.

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I studied Russian at DLI '93-'94 and loved heading down to Monterey and Cannery Row (it was walking distance). Actually went back about a year ago with hopes of living there permanently but was very disappointed. After watching this movie, I'm even more bummed-out at how it's now this massive tourist-trap. When I was there, they still had the merry-go-round (it's a typical movie theater now) and O'Kane's bar. Even grungy old Seaside and Marina are now just as expensive when they converted Ft. Ord to a college town.

A quarter century later, it's just a bunch of high-priced tourist garbage with outrageous home values (although the aquarium is still nice). Even if I was wealthy, I'm not sure I'd want to live there now.

A better destination is Salinas to see the Steinbeck museum. Salinas is like the polar opposite of Monterey since it's a dangerous hell-hole, but the Steinbeck museum, like the Monterey aquarium, is worth a visit. In fact, maybe the skid-row section of Salinas is more reminiscent of the Cannery Row from the forties.