It was all smiles over mini pastry treats and hot Peet’s Coffee at the Oakland Museum on the Sneak Peek Breakfast Day.

And why not grin? The Museum just killed it with an amazing $62.2 million capital improvements campaign. The transformation of the Art and History galleries is fantastic and has been getting raves in the media from coast to coast even before the Museum hosted the media day, which included journalists getting a tour of the building to ooh and aah over the new tech upgrades and cool modern art.

Before we set out for our tour, Museum officials spoke about how the reinvention of the museum happened for both the physical space of the museum and also the operation mission of the organization. Executive Directory Lori Fogarty and others were strong on Oakland pride.

 I was at the breakfast day event representing Oakland Local and it was my second time getting a sneak peak of the museum. This time, I had a chance to relax as I studied the collections in the History Gallery, and the challenging works in the Art Gallery.

As we toured the building, I felt a bit of sadness because I realized this newly renovated Museum would no longer be a cool secret that just a few us Oaklanders knew about.

Since moving to the Lake Merritt area almost six years ago, I’d always used the museum as a place to get charged creatively and relax from various stresses.

Now, there’s no way the museum is not going to see a major uptick in visitors from both Oakland, the rest of the Bay Area, and other parts of California. It’s too good not to have big audiences at new exhibits and events. The terrace garden area will definitely have a nice crowd on most days. No more secret garden for me.

Did I mention the free 31 Hours party being thrown by the Museum on its May 1 opening day? The celebration will run from Saturday 11 a.m. to Sunday 6 p.m. There’s going to be Oakland firefighters making pancakes on Sunday.

Anyway, I know there’s a lot going on this weekend in the Bay Area, for sure. But, if you get the chance, stop by and toast one for the museum. OMCA is an Oakland jewel, so let’s enjoy it.

Check  Oakland Local for daily stories and photographs about various aspects of the museum relaunch.

And if you're planning to attend the party, tweet about it with #OMCA or see what other people are saying about it. Follow the Oakland Museum on twitter here.