English Composition 101

29 November 1999

The Pink Palace Museum

When I first moved to Memphis, I decided that I wanted to learn more about my new hometown. I thought that the museums would be the perfect place to help me learn more about Memphis. There is one museum in particular that I will never forget. It is called The Pink Palace Museum. The Pink Palace Museum is a pink grand palace made of pink bricks and pink Georgian marble. Before the palace was transformed into a museum, it was intended to be the home Charles Saunders, founder of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Allegedly, Saunders had paid to have his dream home built. Unfortunately, his dream was destroyed when he had to file a Chapter Eleven because of his outstanding debt. The city of Memphis gained control of the pink palace that Saunders never lived in and decided to put it on display for the public. As I drive into the parking area, I notice that the palace has been altered. The palace now consists of the Sharpe Planetarium, the Union Planters IMAX Theater and several displays of different moments in Memphis's history. Next, I walk up to the entrance ready to start touring The Pink Palace Museum.

I begin my tour of the museum at the Sharpe Planetarium. I walk into this huge, black room. The ceiling is lit with a replica of the starry sky. I think that I am standing in the middle of the solar system. In this room, I sit and watch as the stars move across the sky. Then I see the Hale-Bopp comet. I have never seen a planetarium before. Who would have thought that I would hate to see such an educational show end? I leave the planetarium and enter a long, narrow hall leading to my next adventure.

The next stop is the Union Planters IMAX Theater. The IMAX Theater is a grand room with stadium seating and surround sound speakers. In this theater, there stands a television screen the size of a football field. The film showing today is Africa: The Serengeti. This film shows the animals of Africa and their living conditions. The show begins with the lion prides of Africa. Little did I know, the screen would make the lions seem as though they are coming at me! I almost wet my pants. The film lasts for almost an hour and now I am off to see the last part the museum.

The stairs outside of the IMAX leads me to what would have been the sitting room of Charles Saunders's mansion. Every room in the mansion has display representing historical people and events throughout Memphis's history. The first display is a tribute to Elvis Presley. There are bright sparkling, bright-colored costumes worn by Elvis. As I move into other rooms, I see life-like mannequins of soldiers fighting in the Civil War. The last room of the tour is dedicated to the entrepreneurs of Memphis. The entrepreneurs include Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express. This room, with pink marble walls, would have been the ballroom. We have now reached a heavy pink marble door. I open it and realize that the tour is over. I am now standing in the front of the beautiful palace.

The Pink Palace Museum has definitely been a learning experience. I would advise you to take your family someday. The untouched pink marble should definitely be seen. You may have seen great mansions, but you haven't seen anything until you have seen The Pink Palace Museum.

Word Count: 594