Miscellany

Random things worth knowing about Monterey (in no particular order):

• The 831 area code covers the entire Central Coast area, from Santa Cruz down past Carmel. Everyone will assume this is your area code when you give your phone number. If you've moved from somewhere else, you may well have decided to keep your phone number with the area code, especially for your cell phone. When you tell someone here your phone number, you'll probably start with the area code. This will confuse them. If they are entering it into a computer, they will have already typed "831" and then you give them too many numbers. I've learned to always start by saying "Area Code 425..." and then my phone number. 
• Very little government business gets done online.  Generally you have to call or mail something in. 
• The first Artichoke Queen of Castroville (the "artichoke capital of the world) was a young actress named Marilyn Monroe,  in 1947.  She was given the honorary title by the Chamber of Commerce during a publicity tour. 

Books and Movies

The most famous stories set in and around Monterey are, of course, the works of John Steinbeck. These additional books and movies also have ties to Monterey. 

• Several scenes from Play Misty for Me were shot in the bar at the Sardine Factory. 
• The classic tale Two Years Before The Mast by R.H. Dana Jr (published in 1840; made into a movie in 1946) is a diary of a sailor's life at sea, and includes scenes of Monterey as it existed in the 1830s.
• The Lucille Ball-Henry Fonda film Yours, Mine, and Ours was based on a family that resided in Carmel. 
• One of the children from that family later disputed the rosy picture portrayed in the movie in his own book, True North: The Shocking Truth About Yours, Mine, and Ours.
• John Wayne starred in the 1933 western, The Man From Monterey, as a military officer sent to Monterey in 1848 to help ranchers register their lands.
• Scenes from Basic Instinct were filmed in and around Carmel and Big Sur.
• The Girl He Left Behind, with Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood, was filmed at Fort Ord.
• Scenes from The Lady Says No with David Niven were filmed at Fort Ord, Pebble Beach, and Carmel.
• Many other older or more obscure movies filmed in the area: the Monterey County Film Commission has a complete list.