I love playing hostess to friends when they come to Memphis. Because I love seeing friends, of course, but also because I love when my friends get to see my city. And when I get to be their tour guide and pick and choose our itinerary for the weekend. Over Easter, my best friend from college was in town, and somewhere in the middle of patio-sitting and downtown-wandering, we made a trip to one of my all-time, hands-down, must-see favorite Memphis spots: the STAX Museum of American Soul.

I’d estimate this was my fifth trip to the museum. Every time I go there I learn something new, every time I go there I dance to “Soul Finger” on the dance floor and every time I go there I get choked up as the first notes of “Try a Little Tenderness” start in the introduction video and the scenes of the city from across the Mississippi glide across the screen. It just doesn’t get old.

If you’ve never been, please clear your calendar for this weekend because frankly, you can’t get there soon enough. Not only is this an incredible and monumental part of Memphis history, let alone Memphis music history, it’s also just a stunning museum. The exhibits, the artifacts, the photography and particularly the recreation of the details of the STAX recording facility — it’s a fascinating visual experience. Oh, and you get to see Isaac Hayes’ Cadillac, which let’s be real, is totally worth the price of admission all by itself.

It’s only $12 for adults, with discounts for senior citizens, AAA, students and the usual suspects. But here’s what surprised me. A year-long membership to the museum is only $50. That will get you in whenever you want — any time you feel like getting a little misty-eyed to Rufus Thomas doing a great impression of the Memphis groove — and a few guest passes, plus 15 percent off anything in the gift store.

It surprised me how affordable it was, and perhaps I’m the only one who wasn’t in the know on that. But now that I do know, I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t join. It is absolutely a place I would visit again and again, and absolutely a cause I would want to support in that way.

And that 15 percent off in the gift shop would really come in handy. If you’re looking for me these days, I’ll probably be driving down to McLemore Avenue; you’ll know it’s me by the Soulsville U.S.A. bumper sticker that says “I’m a Soul Woman.”

blues, Isaac Hayes, McLemore Avenue, Memphis Music, museum, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, soul, Soul Finger, Soulsville USA, Stax, STAX Museum of American Soul, Try A Little Tenderness Music