I’m embarrassed to admit that, until about my 20th trip to the Gulfport, Mississippi area, I didn’t know about the Lynne Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport. We aren’t usually “tourists,” and so we don’t often look at local attractions on our trips.
I was invited to tour the Discovery Center with Max and Kanye, my son and nephew, both of whom were 8 at the time. They enjoyed the WLMDC-TV area, where they took turns being newscasters on television. They also frolicked in the Super Colossal Climbing Sculpture, which is the visual centerpiece of the museum.
Speaking of the museum, it’s a historical center in Gulfport. It lives in what was once the Mississippi City Elementary School (built in 1915). The museum opened in 1998, and is named in memory of Lynn Meadows, Carole Lynn and Joe Meadows’ daughter, who died tragically in a car accident in 1984 while a student at Ole Miss.
In addition to the hands-on centers, which include exhibits like Celebrate the World We Share-Mexico and the Mississippi City History Hotel, the museum offers summer camps and cooking classes. The grounds are also walk-worthy, as there are tiny houses the kids can play in, as well as a few monolithic play structures (treehouses on steroids) nestled around the gentle oak trees.
There was plenty to do, so I’ll definitely take the kids back the next time they overdose on playing video games together.