Welcome to Omega Mart

Welcome! You are now a trainee at Omega Mart and a part of the Dram Corp family. Once you walk into the doors of Meow Wolf's Omega Mart, you're handed your employee identification card, so you can start your training as soon as possible.

You might get so caught up in looking at everything in this grocery store (all available for purchase) that you forget you have a job to do here, but make time for both training - you have to learn the correct cone color for spills, after all - and exploring, because it's all amazing.

Take your employee ID card and use it on these Omega Mart "boop" stations where you will learn more about the store and your job and some will quiz you one what you've learned, like that aforementioned color-coded cone system for spills. 

You should never try to clean up a difficult spill on your own. Instead, just put out an ecru cone (or 4). Someone with appropriate training will come by in a hazmat suit to take care of that for you. 

If you've read my previous posts, then you know that Omega Mart is much more than a grocery store and place to learn about unreal color systems. It's an interactive museum from the minds of the Meow Wolf Company. This is their second of three museums like this that all have different themes, and an underlying mystery. 

Almost all of the mystery takes place behind the wall of the grocery store, and you can get there several ways, one of which is in the floral department and another is through the tent in the recreation center. In fact, Omega Mart, as a grocery store, is just a portion of this museum. At least 2/3 of it are in different rooms and on entirely different floors. 

Musical fruit is the best!

Before heading to the rest of the museum, we spent a lot of time in the produce department, just scoping out the incredible fruits and veggies, like these musical mangos and tomatoes. You'll also find the infinity melon, cucumber ducks, daikon friends, dioramas housing adorable root people, mitosis oranges, and cabbage slippers. You may have thought of some weird things, but the folks of Omega Mart may have out-creatived you.

Really wished loose happles were in stock when I visited

Ever wish apples were more interesting? Well, at Omega Mart they are travel mugs or happy. Apples are the coolest. I adored these happles. Aside from the angry bell peppers, they were my favorites. 

Taking my job in the deli department really seriously

There's almost no area that's off-limits in Omega Mart. In fact, I came from the back and ended up behind the deli counter, so I tried to help a few people out with finding what they were looking for (ha!).  

Can I interest you in some red, white, or blue steaks or monument meat?

In fact, the deli counter is a place you'll want to stop and take in for a while. Everything is amazing and unique and cool and morbid.

Omega Mart really has their branding down. The floral department has this great flower logo, and also has gorgeous - and interesting - flowers you can buy. When you duck behind this wall, an employee will remind you that the flowers are always watching, because the hallway is lined with all different kinds of flowers with eyes to look at you. If you're into weird stuff like I am, this is hilarious. It's unconventional and performance art all rolled into one. 

I also tried my hand at being a janitor

If you see a door that can be opened anywhere (that's not being guarded by an actual employee) then you should try opening it. The janitor's closet holds way more than you expect and you may not find your way back out. See how the door looks like the sign is glitched? That's on purpose. And when I emerged, looking for Eric to follow me, someone welcomed the new janitor to the store.

See that doorway to the right covered in plastic? That's how I ended up behind the deli counter. And see those things on the shelves on the left? Those are all bags you can buy. Who doesn't need a crossbody stomach satchel or a whole ham backpack?

Why is this employee frozen? Why is this always happening?!?

When you go behind the scenes at Omega Mart, you learn the true story of how it came to be, the dark secrets it holds, and how it became the #1 grocery store in the world. You'll spend some time in the employee offices and the break room, plus you'll figure out how to solve the mystery of the parent company and be asked to join the resistance. I'll share more pictures from that later, or you can check out my pics from my visit on my Instagram.

I told everyone that I had been waiting for 3 years for Omega Mart to open and planned a whole trip around it. I wasn't disappointed either. We spent probably 4 hours there and could have spent more, but I was starving. Despite being surrounded by food, there wasn't anything to actually eat in the store, nor were you allowed to due to Covid. 

I'm looking forward to visiting their other locations, including House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, NM and Convergence Station in Denver, CO. Until then, you can learn more about Meow Wolf and their installations on their website. I purposely didn't look at any walk-throughs on YouTube in order to be surprised by what the story of Omega Mart was. Even if you get their emails, you still have almost no idea what's happening. Their ads all say "Omega Mart. You have no idea what's in store for you." and they're absolutely right. 

Have you been to any great interactive museums?

Saving On Airfare 101

No matter where you go, airfare can be a big chunk of your vacation budget. If you know what you’re doing, it can be a smaller one than expected, even during the more expensive times of the year. Of course, planning your trip in the off-season can save you big time. Now that people are getting back to flying, I thought you might need another crash course on getting affordable airfare. Here are my best tips on how to save on airfare:

Book/Look on Tuesday or Wednesday

Airlines set their prices for the week on Tuesdays, this means that if you're going to find a sale on your chosen destination, this is the likely day to find it. Know that once an airline posts a sale rate, other airlines may jump on the bandwagon to lower their prices on those same routes as well, in order to gain your business. Now, that doesn't mean they will, but it's probable. Sale wars last until Thursday and then prices begin to rise again, as airlines want to take advantage of travelers who don't check prices until the weekend.

Know that sale seats are often limited so if you wait, you may not get a seat at the rock bottom prices offered. Generally, I don't find deals on the weekend, but that's not entirely a hard rule either. Sunday seems to be the new Tuesday, as I've discovered and booked a few cheap flights on that day. My tip: keep checking all week until you find a flight that fits your budget.

Fly on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday

The majority of people are trying to fly so they get the full weekend into their schedule. This means Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday are the most popular days to fly. It enables people to get a full three days out of their vacation and the airlines do their best to make the most money on these days. 

Aim to fly on less desirable days. We often fly Saturday to Saturday or Wednesday to Wednesday, because we get a price break and the added benefit of a less crowded airport. Security lines are shorter, there's always a seat at the gate, and sometimes the planes aren't entirely full either.

Like everything else, there's an exception to this rule, which may depend on the popularity of the route/destination on any given day, so you'll have to do a bit of research to see if your destination fits into this criteria. I've gotten a great deal on a flight to Vegas arriving on a Monday and leaving on a Friday, but then again, it was in February, and that's a downtime for tourists.

Fly in the morning

Ugh, nobody wants to get up before the sun rises, especially to lug a bag with them and endure the airport nonsense. I love the airport, but I'm not a morning person, so I am not the most fun person to deal with early, unless you just ignore me and play on your phone or read a book or something. My husband knows this. Fortunately, I'm a bit more people-y when I'm headed on vacation. I'm willing to get up while it's still dark to head to the airport, because I know I've saved money and I'll probably get to my destination at a reasonable time and not miss a whole day of stuff.

You might hate it, and your family might hate having to take you, but if you could save a significant chunk of money, wouldn't you do it? You can call an Uber. You can sleep on the plane (bring ear plugs and an eye mask). You can indulge in the biggest coffee Starbucks can legally sell you. However you deal with it, think of what you can spend that extra money on. A bonus is that when you get there, you have a lot less chance of your flight being delayed, because you're on one of the first flights of the day.

Make a flight with several bookings

Don't limit yourself to those round-trip options given when you search. Instead, book your legs separately, possibly on different airlines, to save as much as possible. Make sure if you have any connections, that you have enough time in between flights. It might be annoying to do this extra work, but once it's booked, all you have to do is print your boarding passes (or download/screenshot it on your phone) and figure out how to get from gate to gate.

I booked a flight this way, because I had enough miles for one way (see below) and I also had an airline credit to spend. I got the flights that fit my trip, on airlines I actually wanted to fly, and I paid less than $20 for the entire round-trip flight. If you can save hundreds of dollars by booking flights separately, why not do it?

Search for a single seat

As I said above, sale seats (and often rewards seats) are limited, so you might be screwing yourself by searching for multiple seats at once. If you look for everyone at once and don't find anything cheaper, then search for seats one at a time. Here's why: If there are two sale seats available for $97, but you are searching for three, you aren't even going to see this option. Instead, you'll see the next price tier that has enough seats to satisfy your search. If there are only two, you can snag those at the sale price and then pay the higher price for the third seat, not the higher price for all three. You can choose your seats after booking, so you can all sit together, so don't worry about this at the time.

Set up airfare alerts

Know when your desired trip goes on sale! Set up airfare alerts on our preferred airlines and get notified right away when those route's rates drop! 

Let an aggregate site do the searching for you

Set up airfare alerts on aggregate sites, too. But when you search, make sure to check your favorite aggregates, because you can see a bunch of airlines all on one page and make a more informed decisions. Sites like Webjet can help you find cheap flights every day, by finding the best deals across the board and putting them in front of you. Not only that, but you can book a package deal too, weather that includes a car rental and a hotel or just one or the other. You don't even have to purchase airfare through them to book the other services. Score! 

Use your air miles

Anytime you book a flight, a hotel, or a car rental, make sure you put your frequent flyer number in that box they provide for you. I don't always fly the same airlines, but I will always put in my American Airlines' number if they let me. With them being partners with Alaska, they flight just about anywhere I want. We use Eric's Alaska card to book most of our flights, which gives us more miles and a cheap companion fare each year, so when I fly again during the year, I check my mileage total to see if I have a free flight coming. 

On a previous trip to Vegas, I found I didn't have enough miles to book a full free flight, but I did have enough for a one-way trip, so I booked that trip on the American site for an Alaskan flight. Then I went to Alaska and booked my return flight using the credit I received on my last flight when I got stuck on the tarmac for almost an hour coming home from LAX. 

You only pay taxes and fees when you book using these methods. The new rate is $6, so both flights cost me a total of $12 + the slight extra I paid for the rate over my credit, which still came under $20 in the end.

Is there a magic formula?

The answer isn't simple, because there is, but there also isn't. The window to find the best rate on a certain flight is 5-7 weeks out for domestic and 3 months for international, but that doesn't mean those are the only times to find deals. I've found awesome rates 3 weeks before a flight, but also several months out for a domestic flight. 

Set your budget and keep looking until you find something that works for you. Worried that you're going to miss out on a better deal? Use a service like Hopper to predict rates for you to learn when to pull the trigger. It can help you pay up to 40% less. 

Right now, when so much is up in the air, a lot of people are also trip-stacking: planning multiple trips at the same time in case one falls through. Maybe you've booked a trip to Greece, but are wary that your flight will get cancelled or Covid restrictions might change, so maybe you'll also book a hotel at the coast and/or plan a road trip as back-ups. Plan to be disappointed, but also hope for the best.

What are some of your best tips on getting cheaper airfare?

Meow Wolf's Area15 In Las Vegas

Meow Wolf is a phenomenon. An art company that creates interactive immersive art projects, that has opened a veritable art complex right off the I-15. Area15 is a collection of big art, experiences, food, drink, and shopping. I have been following their social media for years waiting for their Las Vegas museum to open and it didn't disappoint.

Though we were there for Omega Mart, our ticket came with entry to Area15, too. The grounds are chock full of huge art and you basically walk through a sculpture garden to get there. In fact, you walk right through this arch by Davis McCarty called Pulse Portal. You can see all the gorgeous colors it creates in the sun.

I'm sorry if, like my mom, you are sick of seeing this t-shirt in my pictures. I did bring other shirts with me and also wore them, but you'll be seeing this one for at least one more post. 

 

Many of the pieces are welded metal, like this dragon called El Scorcho (ha!), created by Ivan McClean. The detail is wonderful and the size is pretty imposing, making you wonder how large he would be if you were blessed with an entire dragon body.

Next is one of Tyler Fuqua's fallen robots. You've, no doubt, seen his brother Mechan X downtown, either in person or in pictures. This one is Mechan 9 and is dedicated to other robots, including Iron Giant, C-3P0, and Optimus Prime.

Omah the owl is a newly acquired piece from Alchmey Arts based out of Portland, Oregon. 

If you're looking for something a little romantic, then you'll find this very tall silver couple by Michael Benisty entitled In Every Lifetime I Will Find You. Are they naked? Just barefoot? Aliens? Whatever the answer, this piece is pretty powerful and stands 25 feet tall. 

Just before heading inside, you see this apocalyptic Las Vegas sign. Did I mention all this art is also for sale? So, if you're in need of a holographic geometric archway, or a huge rusted robot, or an infinity room in a small shipping container, and you have the money, you can totally own it.

Look at this door! All sides of the warehouse space is gorgeous and different. This made you feel like you were going somewhere exclusive, and even inside you got the same feeling, even though it was teeming with people. 

After entering into a short hallway that resembled the airlock of a space ship, the doors slide open and you're blasted by thumping music and this fantastic skull that pulses in time to the music. Not literally, but the artwork on it is ever-changing. 

This piece is entitled Shogyo Mujo by Bartkresa Studio and Josh Harker. You can watch a short video on YouTube. I wish I had taken one, but I was so enamored by things I didn't even think about it. This is not the place to go if you easily succumb to sensory overload.

Every inch of wall is covered in signs or art or a doorway into an eatery, shop, or other experience. This bar in the middle of the large warehouse space is covered by a light-up tree. To the side you can see part of The Sanctuary, a piece brought from a previous Burning Man that creates a lovely seating area, made with sustainably-sourced bamboo and dreamed up by Balinese artists from Ibuku Design Studio.

The mural above this one and this one are both larger than life and colorful and gorgeous. Though completely different, they totally work in the space, and I honestly can't wait to return to see more of it.

Admission to Area15 is free, but you must have a ticket to get in, which you can do on their website. If you want to see more pics that I took on this trip, you can see them on Instagram or you can stay tuned for Saturday's post, where I try to explain Omega Mart.

Do you prefer unconventional art or going to a traditional museum?