• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Check out relics from the atomic age at Albuquerque's National Museum of Nuclear Science.    (Photo: Courtesy of National Museum of Nuclear Science)

Soak up the oddball art and culture of Albuquerque, nicknamed "Albuquirky" for a reason. Start at the recently relocated National Museum of Nuclear Science and History ($8), packed with artifacts, bizarre pop-culture relics, and propaganda from the atomic age. Then take a ten-minute drive past the curvaceous, spaceshiplike home and studio of local architect Bart Prince, Albuquerque’s answer to Frank Gehry. Stop off at La Paleteria Michoacana de Paquime (6500 Zuni Road; 505-266-3408), a colorful Mexican Popsicle stand that offers 72 different flavors. Finally, take a half-hour drive into Sandia Park to Tinkertown, the life’s work of local artist Ross Ward ($3). The otherworldly 22-room compound—housed within glowing walls built from 50,000 cement-encased glass bottles—contains an intricate universe of miniature, whittled wooden figurines.

Published on Mar 11, 2010 as a web exclusive.