Welcome to Meow Wolf – photo by leslieloudspeaker

Right now in Santa Fe, New Mexico, there is a portal back to the 80’s owned by master world builder Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin. The purchase of an old bowling alley (complete with original carpet!) crossed with psychedelic local art collective Meow Wolf brings America a new destination that must be seen and crawled all over to be believed.

laundry room from your collective conscious nightmares – photo by leslieloudspeaker

through the fireplace

Starting out as a lonely house full of ennui and character building, you soon find yourself transported to space, a twisted treehouse, rooms devoid of color, underwater where the neon grows; every door, secret passage and public tunnel take you to a new world, each one more psychedelic and haunting than the last.

Meow Wolf treehouse

less balloon festival goers upstairs

the radio works

Meow Wolf power

Nothing like a good TV wall

Meow Wolf piano

The stage. They have cool concerts here, like Dan Deacon and Of Montreal. YES, PLEASE.

Chinatown at Meow Wolf

Not a secret passage, you will just get stuck in some 2×4’s

I happened to visit Meow Wolf right after the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival, and a lot of other balloners had the same idea. While downstairs was a bit of a madhouse, upstairs was just lovely due to skinny corkscrew staircases and vertical ladders making access more difficult. Despite the crowd, there were so many little rooms to explore that you could always find a serene little art nook to have for yourself.

This place would make an amazing AirBnb.