Just arrived. Here for about a year.  In the Monterey area. Tell me what I need to know.

Beautiful area.  My father and his family are from Monterey.  I still have a lot of friends and family there.  

What specifically did you want to know about?

You're right in the middle.  You're a few hours from LA/San Diego and a Few hours from NorCal with Vegas and Reno to the East of you.  

There is an INCREDIBLE variety of things to do and see as well as world class food.  The weather in Monterey is not that hot but I prefer it to sunny/hot 295 days out of the year.

The gun laws well..  Basically, no standard cap mags, no scary black rifles unless they were registered (probably a no-go for you) back at the beginning of the millenium or unless you swap out the mag release for a "bullet button" and a 10 round magazine.  You can forget about a CCW in Monterey.  If you carry a pistol in the car it has to be unloaded and locked up with the ammo separately.  There are some nuances to this but I don't play that game.  Better safe than sitting on the side of the road with 2 cars and a sergeant trying to figure out if you're going to jail or not.  California's gun laws are numerous, confusing, and often misinterpreted.

Other folks know a lot more about the specifics of being a shooter coming into the state.  Just ask some specific questions and you'll get good answers.

Thanks for the input.
I have been really busy lately.
Would love some recommendations for places/things to see with young kids.

Thanks Paul. Lots of the stuff over in the California HTF helped me out when I was trying to figure out which of my guns to bring/how.

Obviously the Monterey Bay aquarium is a great place to start.  Up the coast is Santa Cruz-boardwalk and surfing.  Down the coast is Big Sur -- loads of hiking and backpacking.  Stay away from Salinas -- gang city.  San Fran is a few hours drive north.  San Luis Obispo is 2.5 hours south.  

What kind of things do you like to do?

Won't have too much time, but kids are small so something somewhat easy to control. No sheer cliffs with no railing, etc. The aquarium sounds good. We like to see things and the kids get "tired" if they hike/walk "too" far.

Doesn't need to be inside, just something where the little ones can't get seriously hurt if they take a misstep. Are there any children's museums that anyone would recommend?