Step inside Montecito, California, the dreamy celebrity playground Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and other A-listers call home

"Welcome to Montecito," I thought to myself as I turned to see a group of women laughing as they sipped chilled glasses of white wine in the middle of a sunny Tuesday afternoon.

It was just the first of many moments that proved to me there's nothing ordinary about the sleepy California town that has long been a major celebrity playground.

Before Meghan Markle and Prince Harry decided to call Montecito home, the only times I'd ever really heard about the California town — which is part of Santa Barbara — were on episodes of "The O.C."

But everything changed in July 2020, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex bought a $14.65 million home up in the hills of Montecito, complete with a pool, guest house, and tennis court. A spokesperson told Insider's Mikhaila Friel that the couple had "settled into the quiet privacy of their community." Another source told Vogue that Harry and Meghan "were both drawn to the smaller town of Santa Barbara, where they can integrate into the community while having some distance and privacy."

Markle and Harry are in star-studded company. Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Rob Lowe, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Katy Perry all have homes in Montecito. Ariana Grande also got married at her $6.75 million mansion in the neighborhood.

But Lowe recently claimed that Markle and Prince Harry had "heightened the level of interest" in the town.

"They definitely have brought a lot of attention to my sleepy little town," Lowe — who has lived in Montecito for 26 years — told E! News, claiming that even the lines at Starbucks were longer now.

But had Harry and Markle really changed life in Montecito? And what was it really like living in a tiny town packed with celebrities?

There was only one way to find out — hop on a train and go there myself.

The two-and-a-half-hour trip flew by as I worked on my laptop and chatted with the woman seated next to me, who had planned a day of wine tasting with her friends.

I had just come back from Las Vegas only two days before and was hoping for a dreamy day of peace and relaxation. I assumed Montecito was a classic resort town, full of cute cafés and boutiques, with a salty breeze cooling me down and the air smelling of the sea.

Santa Barbara's train station is flanked by a lily-white building that reminded me of the churches in Santorini (alas, this was actually a science museum). Colorful pink flags decorated with yellow suns fluttered in the breeze as I waited for a Lyft to take me to Montecito.

We whisked past the beach and endless palm trees for the short 11-minute drive, which also cost me $11 on the app.

While I loved that the Montecito Inn is full of Old Hollywood history (Charlie Chaplin helped get it built in 1928, and then tied the knot to actress Oona O'Neill there in 1943), I mainly picked it because it was the most affordable option. I wanted to stay in Montecito to get a true feel for the neighborhood. But the other two open hotels in town, Rosewood Miramar Beach and San Ysidro Ranch, had rooms that started at $1,000 per night. And The Biltmore, a Four Seasons resort in Montecito, was closed until further notice due to the pandemic.

At $305, my room at the Montecito Inn — which was upgraded for free from a queen to a king bed — felt like a total steal.

Since Markle was the inspiration for my Montecito trip, I figured I should try to channel her style during my visit. I went with a blue-and-white striped shirt that reminded me of one of her Wimbledon outfits, along with some distressed denim since the duchess always sported ripped jeans in her pre-royal days.

It was time to see the town!

Restaurants, cafés, and cute boutiques dot both sides of the large main road that runs through the town. All the buildings are painted in soft neutral colors, mainly white. I noticed that many people walking around were of retirement age, and most of the women seemed to follow the same unofficial uniform — flowing maxi dresses or skirts and big sunglasses. It was all very laid-back California chic.

Montecito reminded me a lot of Saratoga and Los Gatos, two suburbs nestled in Silicon Valley, where I grew up. But some of the conversations I eavesdropped on were definitely different.

"He bought four cars and crashed them," I heard one girl walking with a woman who appeared to be her mom say as I passed by them.

"They're all like $60,000," she added. "He doesn't care."

I had imagined Montecito to be much like Santa Barbara's downtown, which is flanked by gorgeous views of the ocean.

But Montecito's Butterfly Beach is actually tucked away from the main part of town (more on that later), so all you really see are the restaurants, stores, and main road. Since all the celebrities' houses are hidden in the hills, there's also nary a mansion to be found.

While doing my research on where to eat in Montecito, I tried to find places that were beloved by the stars. According to a Tripadvisor review, and a random UCSB student's resume that I somehow stumbled upon on Google, Jeannine's is beloved by Oprah.

Is it the most concrete evidence? Absolutely not. But it looked cute, so good enough!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love some bubbly, so I already knew I was in the right place.

Jeannine's menu is also full of variety, from Banana Kahlua and Challah French toasts to Huevos Rancheros and breakfast burritos, plus sandwiches and salads.

I asked the woman at the cash register for recommendations, and she said to go with anything on the breakfast menu. I opted for the $17.25 Eggs Florentine, which she said was one of her favorites, and a $12 mimosa. After all, champagne was their specialty!

The gold bucket came complete with a miniature twist-off bottle of Chandon, orange juice, a flute, and plenty of ice.

Now this was the kind of glamour I had been hoping for in Montecito! I snapped a photo to send to my friends and then happily poured myself a glass.

Nestled between the eggs, which were perched on English muffins and beds of spinach, were perfect bright-green slices of avocado. The soft-poached eggs were fluffy and nicely cooked, and the English muffins soaked up the yolk and delicious house-made Hollandaise sauce without getting soggy. The potatoes were also crispy and plentiful, with the purple ones adding a unique touch to the plate.

Montecito Inn as a whole is incredibly charming. The entire hotel is decorated with old Charlie Chaplin movie posters, beautiful orchids, and sleek leather furniture. So I was a little underwhelmed when I opened the door to my room.

The king bed was (obviously) huge, and definitely comfortable. But the design was surprisingly muted and didn't have any of the Old Hollywood glamour of the exterior and lobby. There wasn't really much decoration in general.

It was a nice room by all means. But with rates sometimes reaching as high as $400 a night, I was expecting a little more luxury.

I made my way through a number of boutiques that Tuesday afternoon, hoping to get a feel for what life was really like in Montecito — and whether it had changed since Markle and Harry moved in.

The first girl I spoke to, a student who lived in Santa Barbara and had worked in the town for five years, told me she met Katy Perry and Jane Lynch and has seen everyone from Chrissy Teigen and John Legend to Jenna Dewan and Ellen DeGeneres.

"There's like an unspoken rule, we treat them like everyone else," she told me. "It's really nice."

While she had yet to see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the student told me that Katy Perry's mom was a sweetheart and that Jane Lynch was always very nice when she came in.

"Nobody bothers them. You'll just see them walking down the streets, super casual," a woman who worked at a different boutique a block away told me of her famous customers. She had also seen Lynch and DeGeneres around plenty of times.

Like everyone else I asked that day, she didn't believe that the town had changed after Harry and Markle moved in. She hadn't even seen any paparazzi.

"There have always been tourists," she said with a shrug, adding that she still considers Montecito to be a "hidden gem" in Santa Barbara.

The beach has been one of Prince Harry's favorite parts of living in Montecito, which he revealed to Oprah during his and Markle's explosive two-hour interview back in March.

"To have outdoor space where I can go for walks with Archie and we go for walks as a family and with the dogs. You know, we go on hikes or go down to the beach, which is so close," he said.

The couple even shared a home video for the interview that featured them running on the beach with Archie.

There are a number of beaches in Santa Barbara, but it's Butterfly Beach that calls Montecito home. So I followed the small sign pointing me to a tunnel under the 101 freeway and began my 11-minute trek to the water.

The walls were bright with bursts of yellow, blue, and turquoise that looked like waves crashing into the sun.

One of the first houses I walked by had an entire shrine devoted to pig statues on the front lawn.

Butterfly Beach has a private feel to it, even though there were plenty of people laying out on the sand or paddleboarding and swimming in the sea that afternoon.

There was ample space to sit or walk, and I could tell that the beach was even more secluded near the cliffs. It wouldn't be hard for a duke and duchess to keep a low profile here.

I walked around Butterfly Beach for a while, happily soaking up the day's last rays and dipping my feet in the ocean. I wanted to stay for the sunset, but my phone reminded me that I had a dinner reservation.

Lucky's is easily the most famous restaurant in Montecito, and not just because of its royal diners. I saw it mentioned in every travel article or blog I read before my trip, and "Iron Chef America" star Cat Cora has said that the restaurant's strip steak is one of the best things she's ever eaten.

Due to the pandemic, the steakhouse now has ample outdoor dining, which is what I opted for when I booked my reservation. I was seated right across the front of the restaurant, where Lucky's sign is flanked by a beautiful burst of purple flowers.

I glanced over the menu, which has plenty of steakhouse classics along with specials like burrata and abalone. When my waiter arrived at the table, I asked what the famous residents of Montecito loved to order. But she gave me a similar reply to what I'd been hearing all day.

"They're just regular people who enjoy food," she said. "It's really about what you like."

I went with the $56 10-ounce strip steak, $15 mac and cheese, and $18 hash browns with Gruyère cheese.

The mac and cheese, which is made with Gruyère and cheddar, had a delicious crust on top thanks to the addition of bread crumbs. And the hash browns were, as I wrote in my notes, "insane." The dish was somehow both crispy and creamy, with perfectly cooked potatoes and a cheesiness that was savory without being overwhelming.

And it's not hard to see why Cora is such a huge fan of the steak, which was super tender. But the standout was actually the sauce that came with it, a delicious peppercorn flavor that I couldn't get enough of. It really made the steak something special, and unlike any I'd had at other famous steakhouses.

Lucky's was still fairly packed for a Wednesday night, with tables that ranged from families in T-shirts and shorts to a well-dressed group of friends in slick leather loafers and patent heels who chatted about wanting to buy bongos and have a "jam session" together.

I was one of the few people dining alone, so I was grateful when another waiter came over later that night to chat with me and see how I was doing. When I asked about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's double date, he told me they were "totally normal," even pointing to the very outdoor table where they had dined back in October.

The waiter also revealed that Lucky's, unsurprisingly, has famous customers all the time.

"Most of them are really nice," he added. "Although a few are rude after having a couple of drinks."

I walked over to Bree'osh, a cute bakery in town that had been mentioned in a number of travel blogs.

The cute café has outdoor tables shaded by cheerful bright-yellow umbrellas. I was surrounded mostly by elderly couples who were also up for an early breakfast.

As I was channeling my inner Meghan Markle on this trip, I ordered the avocado tartine since the Duchess of Sussex is a famous fan of avocado toast.

The $10.95 dish comes with avocado, radish, olive oil, chives, and pepper, all on top of a slice of homemade buckwheat sourdough ciabatta.

As I took my first bite I was surprised by how soft the bread was. The texture was unexpected but so delicious — and clearly extremely fresh.

I loved how bright the avocado looked on the toast, and the radishes gave everything a nice crispiness. Just like every other meal I'd had in Montecito, this was a big win.

While I didn't see any of Montecito's celebrity residents during my quick visit, I did have some great food and loved spending time at Butterfly Beach. The town is definitely quiet and calm, and everyone I talked to said nothing had changed since Markle and Harry moved into the zip code.

With its expensive (and sparse) accommodation options, and the fact that you're not surrounded by the sea, I still think it makes more sense to stay in Santa Barbara's downtown and drive over to Montecito for a short visit instead. Next time I'd also love to check out Montecito's Lotusland, which has been voted one of the top 10 gardens in the world, as well as its hot springs.

But there's no doubt Montecito is a pleasant destination, especially with its top-notch people-watching — and eavesdropping. Just don't forget to order a mimosa bucket!