Thursday, August 31, 2017

5 Most Popular Limo Stops in Downtown!

A limousine visiting the Grand Central in Downtown
Grand Central Market
Downtown is becoming an increasingly visited limo destination in the City of Angels. But with such a large region and spread-out area, where do you begin? 

In this text, Blackhawk will outline the most popular stops for our limousines in DTLA!

5. Nightclubs

Club-hopping by Limo buses is common both in Downtown and in Hollywood. Why not combine the best of clubs by visiting both Sunset Strip and Downtown? Exchange L.A., Elevate Lounge, and The Mayan are three thriving dance clubs in DTLA.

4. The Broad

The Broad
The Broad
The Broad and MOCA are two exciting museums. More than 2,000 artworks are on display at The Broad. Visits are free of charge, and a particularly popular stop for vacationers. Established in 2015, it is also one of the newer sights in town. Limousine riders venture to The Broad to see world-famous sculptures and paintings.


3. Olvera Street

The oldest part of town, also known as El Pueblo, is one of the state’s most historic sights. Founded in the early 1780s, city history can be experienced at Olvera Street. There is also shopping to be done: street vendors can be found roaming the neighborhood. Limousines can be used to cruise up and down Olvera St. or can be used for a simple drop-off.

2. Grand Central Market


Olvera Street
Olvera Street
One of the most desired drop-off locales for tourists, this market has become a local icon and landmark. A happening place since the 1920s, it is known for its delicious and spacious food hall. From Salvadorian- to Chinese cuisine, do a culinary tour to experience foods from throughout the globe! Not only is it the area’s oldest and longest-living market, but it is also the biggest market found within city limits.

1. Walt Disney Concert Hall

With its beautiful surrounding views of the town, state-of-the-art architecture, and happening music venue, Walt Disney’s Concert Hall has become one of the city’s major attractions. Come to photograph the gorgeous scenery or enjoy a concert in the heart of town.

Limo rentals can be used for about any outing in SoCal. Add some extra luxury to your journey by reserving a limousine for your day of exploration. Whether it is for live entertainment at Nokia Theatre or a night out partying, trust us for your transportation! We offer a unique lowest-price guarantee on all Limo excursions.

Friday, April 14, 2017

7 Best Things To Do in Montecito | Blackhawk Limousine & Party Buses

A limo in Montecito, California
As a leading provider of Montecito limos, our limo services visit this community on a daily basis. Known for its many celebrity residents, booking limousine services here is far from unusual. But what is it to see in Montecito? Contrary to popular belief, there are many destinations here visited by party buses and Santa Barbara limo services. Golfing at the famous country club is a popular activity for limo clientele, but also the many restaurants here are common limousine destinations. 

Let us present our “Top 7 Best Things To Do in Montecito, California!”

1. Lotusland

By far the most famous landmark, Walska Lotusland is also the best-rated activity in town on TripAdvisor. This 37-acre park includes some of the world’s rarest plant species. There’s also a pond, Lotus Pond, and lush botanical gardens. Two-hour tours of the gardens are available, and the Japanese Garden is a must to see.

2. First Class Dining

Party bus services in Santa Barbara, CA
Why go all the way to Santa Barbara for dining, when there are so many award-winning restaurants in town? Lucky’s steakhouse on Coast Village Road might be the most famous, often served by limo services from Santa Barbara and even Los Angeles. For the best ocean views, head to Four Season’s Bella Vista or Tydes Restaurant. For the best Mexican, head to Cava Restaurant & Bar on Coast Village Road. Stella Mares on Los Patos Way serves great French cuisine, while Pane E Vino has the town’s best Italian cuisine. Ordering a limo service or party bus to the eateries of town might be your best chance of spotting one of the town’s celebrities. Most of the best restaurants are located in the Upper Village part of Montecito.

3. Wine-Tasting Tours

This town is surrounded by great wine-tasting venues and vineyards. Santa Barbara’s backyard vineyards in Santa Ynez are the most popular tours, but there are also various wine-tasting rooms in and around town. Many stop by the Wine Bistro on San Ysidro Road, while the wine bar at Trattoria Mollie is a local favorite.

4. Best Beaching

Beach in Santa Barbara
Montecito is home to some of the most scenic beaches in Santa Barbara County, including Butterfly- and Miramar Beaches. Located on Channel Drive right across from Four Seasons Biltmore is where we find the idyllic Butterfly Beach. Named for its many winter monarch butterflies, this might be the most visited beach in town. Miramar Beach is situated right below another famous resort, namely the Miramar Hotel Santa Barbara. Both beaches are definitely worth looking into and offer some great swimming, snorkeling, surfing, and picnicking.

5. Gallery Tours

Gallery tours are popular with limo clients. Easton Gallery on Hot Springs Rd was established in 1990 and is a famous gallery in the Santa Barbara region. Come here to see local art and paintings. Numerous other galleries are located in town, mostly on Coast Village Road.

6. Explore The Outdoors

The most popular trail in town might be the Ennisbrook Trail, which is a 1.9-mile loop from 1788 San Leandro Lane. It is located within the San Ysidro Creek Preserve in the heart of town and is a forested trail along a creek. The more experienced hikers head up to the Cold Springs East Fork Trail for the 3.5-mile hike to Montecito Peak. From this peak, you can see as far as all the California Channel Islands, Santa Barbara, and nearby mountains. Alternatively, check out the less than two-mile Hammond Meadow Trail from Shalawa Meadow. This trail follows the gorgeous villas and scenic beaches along the coastline. A park often visited by limousine clientele for wedding photos and picnics is Manning Park, located at 449 San Ysidro Road.

7. Casa del Herrero

A true Santa Barbara landmark, this home, and garden is a popular destination for tourists booking limos. This eleven-acre site is registered as a U.S. Historic Landmark and dates back to the mid-1920s. Ninety-minute guided tours of the Spanish-style home are available several days per week. The beautiful 11-acre property features botanical gardens and Spanish architecture at its best.

See: 6 Best Things To Do in Carpinteria!

All of these local treasures are often visited by a number of celebrities reserving limousine services in Montecito. Just a few of the celebs residing here are Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Willis, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Cruise, and an array of others. Not bad for a community of barely 9,000 residents! Order your limousines and party buses from Blackhawk today! We offer award-winning wine-tasting tours of Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, and other nearby wine regions.



Sunday, February 12, 2017

6 Best Malibu Beaches!


Looking for a smaller and less-crowded beach in Malibu? As a Malibu limo service, we serve the beaches here on a weekly basis. With many larger beaches such as Topanga-, Zuma- and Surfrider Beaches, there is no lack of great beaches in the Malibu Area. Learn more about the most popular beaches for our limo- and party bus clientele! We have also included beach filming locations, celebrities living close by, and venues where one can combine wine-tasting tours with a day of beaching.

For a nice sunny day you’d like to hang out at the beach, why travel to a crowded beach full of surfers and others? If you would prefer a smaller hidden gem, check out the limousine services list of our top choices for Malibu beaches!


6. Broad Beach

Situated in the northern part of Malibu, the homes around the area are unlike most of these beach communities not located within a gated community but are among the area’s most expensive real estate. This is also one of the most celebrity-densest areas in LA County. Just a few of the many celebrities residing here include Mel Gibson, Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffmann, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Danny DeVito, Eddie Van Halen, Charlie Sheen, Sylvester Stallone, and many more. 

The access to this public beach is located 1 mile from Zuma Beach, with a pathway located at 31300 and 31200 on Broad Beach Road. Despite wealthy homeowners’ efforts to restrict access to Broad Beach, there have become more easily accessible entries to Broad Beach in recent years. Connected to Zuma in the north, Broad Beach resembles Zuma but is smaller and less crowded than its southern counterpart. A racing scene from the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious was filmed here, where Vin Diesel races a Ferrari on the way to Neptune’s Net.

5. Latigo Beach

Latigo is located right after entering Latigo Shore Dr., just west of Corral Canyon and east of Latigo Point. It is famous for its many gorgeous beach homes and its A-rated water quality. In fact, some days there are up to 40 feet of ocean visibility which makes for great scuba diving and snorkeling. Its private location makes for a great sunbathing experience, and as it’s sheltered by Latigo Point and has fewer waves than most Malibu beaches, Latigo makes for a great beach for swimming. 

As there are many houses and apartments located here, parking along the Pacific Coastal Highway might be your best parking option to avoid neighbor complaints. The beach has been featured in various films. Zachary’s home in Mildred Pierce (1945) is located at the beach, and it’s the location where Spencer is pursued at the end of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963). Joseph’s home in the 1973 film Messiah of Evil is also located here, and so is a waterfall seen in Tourist Trap (1979). The gas station from It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a popular stop for cinematic tours by limousine services.

4. Escondido Beach

This narrow sandy beach actually translated from Spanish into “Hidden Beach”! One of the most beautiful gems in the Malibu area, nearby homeowners have fought unsuccessfully for decades (as seen on CNN, LA Times, The Guardian, and elsewhere) to keep beachgoers away from the beach. You may need to ignore a few signs, but rest assured that anyone can access this beach. Located just below the bluff from Geoffrey’s Malibu restaurant, visitors will have to park on PCH just before the restaurant to venture down here. Being top-rated for water quality, scuba diving, and snorkeling are common activities for party buses and Malibu limo service customers who travel out here. As recently as yesterday we took clients here from Malibu wine-tasting tours in the canyons.

3. Staircase Beach

Named for the downward path leading here, Staircase Beach is found on the northern end of Leo Carrillo State Beach. The beach is relatively rocky and maybe most visited by surfers, windsurfers, and paddle-boarders. As there is no signage for the beach it is easily overlooked, but those who discover this beach will fall in love with its magnificent cliffs, white sand beach, and gorgeous rock formations. Staircase Beach may be reached from the parking lot at Leo Carrillo State Beach and from a trail going from the North Beach Campground. 

The beach is located close to a great seafood restaurant, namely Neptune’s Net. Enjoy the zigzag trail down to this rocky hidden gem of a Malibu beach! Often named among the most gorgeous beaches in California, our Malibu limo service often has limousine- and party bus vehicles heading to Staircase Beach.

2. El Matador State Beach

Ordering party bus- and limousine services to visit El Matador State Beach has become as popular as visiting the larger beaches. Being a more known stretch of beach than the others mentioned in this article, El Matador is a more known “hidden gem”, but still less visited than most beaches. With its gorgeous rock outcroppings, sea caves, and mountain cliffs, bringing the camera along for photographs is a must when visiting El Matador. The hike down to the beach is steep and uses several staircases. Being so far down from the Pacific Coastal Highway, the beach is completely separated from the noise of the freeway and has an unusually secluded character for an LA County beach. 

The forty-acre beach is one of the three beaches that make up the Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach. Come here early to be guaranteed parking at the 40-space parking lot. While there are no shops or restaurants nearby, the beach parking lot is equipped with restrooms and even picnic areas overlooking the coast. Come here for a quiet and scenic beach with beautiful surrounding nature that’s ideal for photographs. Our top-rated Malibu limo service often transfers wedding clients here for an ideal secluded and naturally gorgeous place for wedding photographs. The two additional Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beaches - La Piedra Beach and El Pescador - are smaller than El Matador, but maybe not as picturesque. El Matador has been featured in a variety of movies, making it a desired destination for limousine services on cinematic tours of Malibu. 

It is featured as the coast of South Carolina in The Notebook (2004), while it is dubbed for Mexico in True Romance (1993). The fictional Towers Beach in Spellbinder (1988) is actually El Matador, while the beach also can be seen in A Lot Like Love (2005) starring Ashton Kutcher.

1. Lechuza Beach

An even lesser-known beach is Lechuza Beach, situated at the northern end of Broad Beach Road. Known for its gorgeous rock formations and secluded character, it is found just a little way up from Broad Beach. The long walking path takes you from Bunnie Ln. and Broad Beach Rd. intersection and down to the beach. 

Unlike most other beaches in the area, Lechuza Beach is not connected to other beaches and is therefore a true hidden Malibu gem. Our Malibu limo service has often transferred beach-goers here as the beach lacks its own parking lot. Although there are no public restrooms or showers here, you can take easily take a stroll from the beach to the nearby Starbucks and gas station on PCH and Broad Beach Rd. Its naturally rocky coastline, seclusion, and tons of vegetation resemble a Pacific Island more than an LA County beach!

If none of these were particularly intriguing, check out Orange County’s Thousand Steps Beach for one of Southern California’s most scenic beaches. A popular activity for many of our clients in Malibu is to combine wine-tasting tours with a day at the beach. Located right across the PCH from Topanga Beach is where we find the Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio, a wine-tasting room that offers great views of the Pacific Ocean. Further inland you can venture on wine-tasting tours to wineries such as Malibu Family Wines, Cornell Winery & Wine-Tasting Room, and SIP Malibu Grapes. For those who prefer an even more secluded beach than those mentioned here, ordering limousine services to visit the California Channel Islands might be your best choice. Whether to visit the peaceful white sand beaches of Santa Rosa Island or explore the coastline of Catalina Island, a Malibu limo service can get you to the dock in style!

We are servicing all of Southern California and all its beaches, but please keep our limos clean from the sand! Whether for local wine-tasting tours, party bus nights out, LAX transfers, wedding transportation, or any other limousine needs, contact our limousine services today for an immediate and free quote.

Check also out: the 7 Best Southern California Islands!