One of my favorite museums in Memphis is the Pink Palace. The Pink Palace was built by Clarence Sanders the man who founded the Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain and got its name from the pink stones he used to construct it. Clarence never completed the house but the city of Memphis made it into a museum. Looking at the building you get the feeling of this is “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” from a bygone era.
The museum does a really good job of telling the story of Memphis and the Mid-South. Areas of interest covered are geology, industry and history. The museum collections are vast and many of the artifacts fascinating. There is also one gallery devoted to traveling exhibits which keeps the museum fresh and us coming back. Another attraction is the Imax Theater that rotates films quarterly. There is also a planetarium which is kept way too cold during shows (maybe because it is cold out in space?) with greatly cut back hours due to many budget cuts.
Once my daughter’s school had a field trip to the Pink Palace and we were able to go “behind the scenes” to view the storage areas. It is unbelievable to see all of the stuff the museum has that normally no one sees. I would love it if they would occasionally make exhibits of the stuff that is put away or at least have scheduled tours of that area.
We have been members of the Pink Palace for many years. Your membership includes entry to the Lichterman Nature Center and the Mallory-Neely House (a historic home in Victorian Village). Another great feature included with membership is reciprocity at other ASTC museums in the US and worldwide. Over the years we have used this ASTC membership for free admission to museums in Huntsville, Baton Rouge, Seattle, Portland, Philadelphia and Vancouver BC.
Recommendation: Great activity for people of all ages especially on cold rainy days.
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