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Travel to: Oakland, CA

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Allegiant Air and Visit Oakland. All photos, experiences and opinions are my own.

Last weekend was a weekend of firsts. I flew to Oakland, CA on Allegiant Air for the 2014 National Travel and Tourism week! I had never flown Allegiant OR been to Oakland before this trip so it was all new to me! I decided to meet my mom up there since it was Mother’s Day weekend and I needed a Mom’s getaway (and to get away from this desert!)

I actually liked how Allegiant knows how many carryons are coming on the plane so there is no question on whether or not yours is going to fit. The checkin was quick and flight pleasantly uneventful (after a short delay due to someone turning in their ticket for someone who wasn’t on the plane).

When we got to Oakland I fell in love with the history. Coming from a fairly new state I love reading about and seeing the history of older states and cities.

We stayed in Jack London Square at the Waterfront Hotel. I loved how they were dog friendly! 

We missed out on going to Fairyland since we were delayed so we headed straight to lunch at Lake Chalet a gorgeous 100 year old boat house that has recently been turned into a beautiful restaurant. The food was fresh and delicious (especially the local snapper ceviche!)

Just out on the dock of Lake Chalet was Gondola Cervizio and we couldn’t pass up a chance to ride on a true authentic Venetian gondola (that was made in Italy)! Our gondolier was awesome and knew all kinds of fun facts about Oakland and Lake Merritt that he shared with us as he took us around the lake.

The Lake Chalet is within walking distance from the Oakland Museum of California so we headed over to check it out as well as Friday nights @ OMCA

There was SO much in the museum that my boys would love. I can’t wait to take them there some day. I kept texting photos of things I knew they would love to see.

On Friday nights there is live music, dancing and food trucks. It was so energetic and fun!

The next morning

we walked around the Jack of all Trades Market and had to take advantage of a photo booth in a VW bus.

Since we were in the area we had lunch at Lungomare which is right at the Waterfont hotel. They have gluten free pizzas and pasta and some amazing handmade sodas. I loved the coconut lime!

There is a lot to do just in this area of Oakland like Kayaking on the estuary where you can get a different view of the Port of Oakland cranes.

One thing I really enjoyed that I wouldn’t have done with the boys was the East Bay Vintners Alliance urban wine trail. You can tour on your own and taste tons of different local wines.

We made our way around and up to my favorite meal of the weekend at Desco with house made gluten free pasta (haven’t yet had better) and a seasonally fresh, ingredient-driven regional Italian cuisine menu.

After dinner we had time to catch a show at Yoshi’s Jazz club which was so good!

We had such a great time and I learned that even traveling without the boys I still think about all the things they’d love and trying to experience it through their eyes as much as I am my own! If you’re heading to Oakland soon I love this list of 101 things to do.

When was the last time you traveled without kids? Maybe I can help you out a bit! Head over to enter for a chance to win 2 round trip tickets to anywhere Allegiant Airlies flies!

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Allison Waken is a wife, mom of boys and Phoenix, AZ native. She has been creating inspiring content for All for the Boys since 2011. Allison loves travel, movies and spending as much time as possible with her family while she can!

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