Free
Museums
- Botanic Gardens: Free very Tuesday from 12:30 p.m. to close
- Brooks Museum: Free every Wednesday
- Dixon Gallery and Gardens: Every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- Lichterman Nature Center: Every Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- National Civil Rights Museum: Every Monday from 3 p.m. to close. Note if a holiday falls on a Monday there are no free hours and regular admission prices apply.
- Pink Palace Museum: Free every Tuesday after 1 p.m.
Attractions
- Memphis Zoo: Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to close. Free admission applies only to Tennessee residents (with photo identification). Some exhibits, such as the Pandas and Butterflies may require payment.
- Mud Island River Walk: You don’t have to take the tram across (which costs $1). You can walk across on the third level above the tram. The River walk is a scale representation of the lower Mississippi River from Cairo, IL to new Orleans, LA. Each stride is equal to one mile on the actual river. The 1000 mile journey ends at the Gulf of Mexico, a one-acre enclosure that holds 1.3 million gallons of water.
- Peabody Ducks: Daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. The Duckmaster leads the ducks down the elevator to the Italian travertine marble fountain in the Peabody Grand Lobby. A red carpet is unrolled and the ducks march through crowds of admiring spectators to the tune of John Philip Sousa’s King Cotton March. The ceremony is reversed at 5 p.m., when the ducks retire for the evening to their palace on the roof of the hotel.
Food
- Kids Eat Free: Looking for a place to eat, find out which restaurants in Memphis offer deals for children.
Media
(These free publications keep me “in the know” when it comes to events. If you are stuck for something fun to do, these magazines and newspapers may be able to help you out)
- Memphis Parent: Everything you need to know about raising kids in the Mid-South. This monthly magazine is available at over 600 locations around the metro Memphis area. Call 901-521-9000 to find out where you can pick it up.
- Jabberblabber: For the creative child in everyone. This monthly magazine aims to foster creativity and promote imaginative play skills through a variety of art activities. It distributes 25,000 copies a month at over 300 locations in Memphis and the Mid-South area.
- LampLighter: This monthly publication is the heart and soul of Midtown and the Cooper-Young neighborhood. (Full disclosure, I am the paper’s editor). Distributed monthly across Midtown and delivered to the doorstep of every home in CY.
- Memphis Flyer: Billed as Memphis’ alternative newsweekly, the Flyer hits the streets every Wednesday morning with a blend of serious hard news and Memphis’ best entertainment coverage.