Meow Wolf Santa Fe Review!

If you've ever seen an ad for one of the Meow Wolf locations & have thought about going, I 100% suggest jumping on that urge and visiting if you have the chance. Each location has a completely different theme & different mysteries to find. In 2024 we were able to visit the Las Vegas location & just recently we had the chance to visit the Santa Fe, New Mexico location. In total there are five locations so far & two new locations in the works! It would be awesome to eventually visit every location. 

The Santa Fe location is called the House of Eternal Return, and it is their original location which started it all. I had a lot of fun at their Las Vegas location, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this location and so far, it is my favorite location we've been. When you first enter this location you'll find the normal welcome area, the gift shop and a cute little cafe along with a long hallway that leads back to the bathrooms. After getting inside you will be directed to the entrance of your adventure! 

Immediately upon entering into the House of Eternal Return, you really will feel like you are transported to another realm. You will enter into the alleyway in front of a large Victorian looking home that you can explore. The level of participation Meow Wolf requires is completely up to you! There is a ton of hidden messages and a whole mystery you can do along with a phone app with games and more, or you can just explore, find some neat things and enjoy your time. You'll find actual computers and phones you can really use to not only help with your mystery solving, but some of the phones connect to their other locations where you can talk with actual guests visiting at the same time as you. When I first walked into the living room area of the Victorian home there was a small group sitting on the sofa using the laptop that is on the living room table, and I am not going to lie, it 100% felt like I walked into a random families house unannounced while they were spending time in the living room. 

Not only in the house, but also the world beyond the house, you will want to look at everything and anything you can! There are things to look at everywhere, you can enter the kitchen and find cool pieces of artwork in cabinets, you can enter into the closet in the bedroom and end up in a cave or crawl into the washing machine and end up in another room. This is a spot for everyone who loves adventures and interesting things. The crew who puts everything together at the Meow Wolf locations & everything who plans how it will be laid out, do such a fantastic job. It is truly remarkable just how much is packed into this building. I feel like this is a spot you would want to either spend a long period of time at or come back again a second time, because you are sure to miss something on your first time through. 

My kids love Meow Wolf as well, they have a blast exploring the rooms at their own pace. My son in particular loves Meow Wolf! I had seen an ad or two for the Las Vegas location before we had visited, but my son was really the one who had told us a lot about that location and asked if we could visit while we were in Vegas. Our group was semi-split on which location is our favorite, I would say it was 50/50. Their locations are family friendly, however if you are looking for a chance to check it out without a bunch of kids running around look into one of their 21+ events!

Know before you go; There are three different ticket options. Your fist option is the general admission which is $38 per adult & $31 per child, they are timed tickets so you will need to select what time you'd like to enter Meow Wolf at and be sure to arrive 10 minutes before hand. The second option is the Anytime admissions for $48 per adult & $38 per child, as the name suggest you won't need to be on a tight schedule and can arrive anytime. The third option is the "Totally Worth It" bundle which is perfect for big fans of Meow Wolf & anyone looking to add something extra to their experience. It is $58 per adult & $48 per child. What makes the bundle worth it? The entrance will be an anytime pass, plus you will also receive a collectible lanyard, a souvenir pin, chromadepth glasses & five meow wolf tokens. The glasses help make lights brighter and makes things really POP while wearing them and the tokens can be used on arcade games inside of Meow Wolf & for certain collectible machines you can use while exploring. If you do not want to get the big package but want to buy some tokens to use they are $1 each. 

We spent about two hours here, but as mentioned if you get more in depth with the story line you can be here for twice as long, if not longer. I like that you are free to exit & grab a drink or something to snack on at the cafe and head back in for more exploring. With the amount of people that visit, everything is actually quite clean! I also like that their gift shop not only has their own merch, but they had an area where you can buy things from local artists. I actually ended up grabbing two pretty cool prints from the local artist area & our kids of course picked out some fun souvenirs to take home. We can't wait to visit one of their other locations next! We've been discussing which one we think we might be able to visit next. There is honestly so many cool things at this location, that I can't fit everything into one blog post, so I highly highly recommend stopping by and having a fun adventure of your own! If you'd like a look at some of the awesome things you can see at the House of Eternal Return, but sure to stop by either my Instagram page or my Tiktok Page to check out my reel showing highlights of some of my favorite spots here. 

🚗Looking for more fun travel destinations? I have posted about some wonderful places to visit in Arizona, California, Nevada & New Mexico! In the search bar of my blog you can type in "Things to do in ___" (add the state) and it will bring up all the posts I've done in those states. 

Disclaimer-  Meow Wolf provided this experience to us for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Tom Devlin Monster Museum Review!

 

I am a big fan of horror movies, so when I found out we would be driving past where the Tom Devlin Monster Museum is in Boulder City, Nevada I knew I had to add it to our itinerary. When we were on our way back home from Las Vegas, we stopped into the monster museum to check it out. We were lucky when we arrived because we were able to be the only group visiting, it wasn't until the end of our stop that more people started to come into the museum. As soon as you arrive, you'll find a decorated hearse, the mystery machine & the Ecomobile along with spooky decor. 

Upon enter into the museum you will be in the gift shop which features a lot of awesome goodies to purchase including autographs from various celebrities & there is also a small arcade with horror themed games. Entrance into the museum is $20 per person & $10 per child. There are a lot of cool & awesome photo opportunities throughout the museum with a wide variety of your favorite horror characters. 

The museum is packed with a wide range of horror themed figures, props and more. Some of the work is by Tom Devlin himself & the rest is all from various special effects artists and movies. For the size of the building, I was actually surprised how much was packed into the self-guided tour. If you take your time to look at everything, read the information plaques and snap photos you'll be in the museum for an hour maybe a little longer. The lighting makes it a little dark & spooky which fits in with the atmosphere of the museum itself, I feel like regular lighting would ruin the whole thing. 

At the end of the museum is a theatre that will be showing different documentaries, or short films. When we were there, they were showing a video on two chairs that they built. One was for Alice Cooper & one was for Corey Taylor/Slipknot which we enjoyed watching because we are a fan of both. The seats were pretty comfortable, and it was a nice spot to escape the heat outside. They did a great job with the various displayed and even themed rooms, for example one of the rooms had a ton of different Jason figures and a spooky haunted woods feel. 

They had a lot of our favorite horror movie characters & it was fun learning about some new movies we've never seen as well. For us this was a fantastic spot to stop, we loved everything they had to offer. The gift shop has a lot of cool collectables as well from figures, to pins and even clothing. The bathroom was kind of neat too, the door is built to look like a coffin lid & the inside of the bathroom has a Shining theme. There are no jump scares in the museum & none of the figures move around so if you aren't a fan of being scared, no need to worry. 

🎲 I will be sharing some other family friendly spots around Las Vegas including other FREE things to do, so if you want to check them out keep an eye out for more posts or type in "Things to do in Las Vegas" in the search bar of my blog. I also have posts on some great places to check out in California & Arizona. 

**This post was not sponsored. We visited this location on our own.**

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park Review!

 

When we visit new spots it is always fun to check out local museums & tours, so on our recent trip out to California we stopped in Yuma, Arizona on the way back to grab some lunch and stretch our legs while checking out the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. You'll go on a self guided tour of part of the original Yuma State Prison which opened in 1876 & closed in 1909. One of the nice things about the parking lot is if you are stopping by on a road trip there is plenty of regular parking spots along with RV parking. They are located at 220 N. Prison Hill Road Yuma, AZ 85364. While you are there you will be next to a park where you can walk down to the Colorado river & dip your toes in, there is also a cool bridge and if you get lucky you will see a train going by. 

On your self-guided tour you'll find pieces of the prison history like actual clothing and more that were kept after the prison closed down. You will learn quite a bit of history not only on the prison itself, but many of the prisoners as well. They actually have a banner that shows you what crimes people were arrested for & how many people were there for that crime. 

It was actually pretty insane to see how prisoners lived in this prison, most of the cells looked like a cave and some cells like the dark cell, literally were caves with a door. Not only were the spaces already small & cramped but they had two bunk beds which each had three people sleeping on them, which means six people were stuffed into a small room. A lot of people called this prison a "Hell Hole" and I can see why, it gets so hot in Arizona and being in a cramped room with no A/C I can only imagine how hot it felt to those living in the prison. 

The Dark cell was also insane to see, once you reach the end of the hallway to where the dark cell is the light get dimmer and dimmer. Not going to lie, the room did feel quite ominous and a little creepy especially if you were to fully go inside and stand in the dark area. In some of the cells they have mannequins set up to show what it would have looked like with the prisoners in the cells along side their bunkbeds and nothing else. The women definitely had it much easier than the men and were allowed clothing changes more often along with other finer amenities.   

On display on the inside museum, you'll also find pieces of artwork the prisoners made while in prison such as hair pieces made by female inmates and small trinkets made from steel & more. Don't miss the gorgeous views from the top of the hill where the prison is located, you'll get to see quite a bit of Yuma long with beautiful views of the Colorado River. Being up in the look out tower also offers you a chance to spot some great picnic areas if you are looking to set up a picnic instead of finding a spot in town to eat. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. (Click on the name or locate it on the right-hand side of my page).

★ This is not a sponsored post, we paid for this on our own. I enjoy sharing new places we explore with my followers.

Petersen car museum in Los Angeles Review!

 

The Petersen car museum in Los Angeles, California is a fantastic stop for anyone who is a big fan of movie cars or older cars in general. We stopped by while we were in Los Angeles & we had a fantastic time viewing all of the cars they have on display. The museum is three stories tall, and they have an underground vault with even more cars. The vault cost extra & isn't something we did on this trip so I will just be sharing cars from the main three floors.  Tickets are $21 per adult, $13 for youth ages 12-17 and $11 for children ages 4-11. They are located a short walk from the La Brea Tar Pits so if you plan on visiting both locations I recommend paying to park at La Brea then walking over to the car museum like we did. Along the walk we also found a neat art exhibit that we took some photos in. 

Something to know a head of time, they do not allow purses or backpacks into the museum. You will need to stop by the security office & leave your bags there while you explore. Thankfully there was no one in line for checking bags so it only took us a few minutes to do. They recommend you start on the third floor & work your way down, and the way they have everything set up it makes it very convenient doing it that way.  

They had some pretty great set ups along the way for a number of the cars, some of the cars had the movie or show scenes playing in the background that they were featured in. Others has photos of the cast in front of the cars such as the Mystery Machine. Along with cars they also had a number of motorcycles on display. I didn't see my personal favorite TV show car, but who knows, it could have been in the vault. 

On the second floor there was an interactive play area for small kids, which is perfect for parents & it will help keep the kids happier during their visit. The entire museum was well lit & we enjoyed how much information and videos they had playing through out that show cased some of the cars and the history behind them as well. Not only did we see a lot of fun movie cars, but there were a lot of really funky car designs I had never seen before so they were awesome to see and know existed. One of the funky cars we spotted is the green car shown below.

For all of you who love Teslas, they have a whole Tesla exhibit on display including one of the new Tesla cyber trucks. They have a large gift shop that has everything from magnets to toys and car brand merchandise like Porsche shirts. If you get hungry, they have a restaurant on site, it smelled pretty good but there was a wait to get in & there was another spot we wanted to visit for lunch, so we didn't try it out.

If you are planning a trip to southern California & are looking for other activities to do feel free to type in "Things to do in California" in the search bar of my blog so you can find some other great activities in California. This was not a sponsored review, we paid to get into the museum ourselves. I enjoy being able to share spots like this with my readers who may not be able to visit in person but are still interested in learning more about these spots, or for anyone planning vacations in the area. 

🌵 Also If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" (Click or locate it on the right-hand side of my page) section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. 

La Brea Tar Pits & Museum in Los Angeles!

 

While we were on our recent vacation to California one of the places, we stopped to check out was the La Brea tar pits & museum in Los Angeles. It is crazy to see this location tucked away in the middle of town, it has a lovely park to walk through to see the different tar pits. Everything is self-guided so you can walk at your own pace. The park and viewing the tar pits seemed like it is free to walk around at any time, there are multiple entrances into the park & there were lots of people walking their dogs, having lunch and just enjoying the nice day out on the grass. Watch where you walk though if you decide to wander onto the grass, you'll see spots where the tar is starting to seep up through the grass. Most of the spots have signs or cones around them so no one ends up sticking their foot into it & then tracking the tar around on their shoe. One of the tar pits you will get to see is an active site that they are still excavating so you'll get to see some of the bones they are bringing up. 

The museum itself is not free, you can either purchase tickets at the little ticket booth outside or buy them upon entry into the museum. Tickets are $15 per adult and $7 for children, they also have a gift shop on site. Inside of the museum you will find a number of skeletal remains they have found in the tar pits right on their own grounds! 

It was crazy to see how many sets of remains had been pulled up from the pits & how many different types of animals, bugs and even plants they have found inside of the tar. You'll get to see many of the remains they've pulled up along with information on the species and more on your tour of the museum. Some of the skeletons they have on display are absolutely massive and others are quite tiny. 

During your tour you'll find several interactive stations for any small kids in your group, it is a fun way to help keep them entertained and engaged during your visit to the museum. A few of the spots are fun for adults too like trying to pull an object out of real tar. 

On of the neat aspects of this museum is they have a viewing area where you can watch staff working on remains that have been excavated from the tar pits. It is pretty neat being able to see them removing tar and delicately working to give the remains the best appearance possible. I personally am not sure if I would be able to concentrate on working with dozens of people stopping to watch me work throughout the day. Do you think you would be able to do it?

My favorite part of the museum is the arboretum in the center of the museum. You'll be able to take a short stroll looking at the assortment of trees, plants and flowers they have on display. I also liked the small waterfall & river they installed in this area. It is a nice spot to sit & relax if you need a few minutes to rest your feet. In total I think we were at the tar pits & museum for around an hour, maybe a little longer. It was a neat experience to do with our kids, not only is it fun but it can also be quite educational. 

If you are planning a trip to southern California & are looking for other activities to do feel free to type in "Things to do in California" in the search bar of my blog so you can find some other great activities in California. This was not a sponsored review, we paid to get into the museum ourselves. I enjoy being able to share spots like this with my readers who may not be able to visit in person, but are still interested in learning more about these spots, or for anyone planning vacations in the area.