Carnegie Museums of Natural History and Phipps Conservatory
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1895, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History is a hands-on interactive museum of the earth. Known for its famous dinosaur collection, the museum is an adventure millions of years in the making. After
perusing the exhibits take a walk over to the Phipps Conservatory, conveniently located next door.
Something’s always blooming at Phipps. The 13-room Victorian glasshouse and gardens feature tropical plants, palms, orchids, ferns, desert plants, and bonsai, as well as many special flower shows and exhibits, and butterflies. The Conservatory’s three annual flower shows each spring, fall, and holiday season are traditional events for hundreds of thousands of Pittsburghers, and the beautiful flowering gardens have become a popular venue for weddings and social events. This fall two of the most exciting exhibits being held are the Garden Railroad Western World and the Tropical Forest Thailand. Lunch will not be provided on this tour.
Registration Fee: $55
University of Pittsburgh: Cathedral of Learning and Frick Art & Historical Center
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The emphasis on ethnic identity and the search for one’s ancestral roots is reflected in the committees formed to create new classrooms representing the cultures of Denmark, Switzerland, the Philippines, Latin America, and other countries throughout the world. These rooms placed around the Commons Room add new dimensions of pride and understanding to the unique totality of America’s heritage. Lunch will not be provided on this tour.
After viewing the Nationality rooms, visitors will head to the Frick Art & Historical Center, which is a fascinating complex of museums and historical buildings located on more than five acres of lawns and gardens in Pittsburgh’s residential East End. Visitors will enjoy the Frick Art Museum; the Car and Carriage Museum; Clayton, the restored 19th-Century Victorian home of Henry Clay Frick; the Cafe at the Frick; the Greenhouse; and the Visitors’ Center, which once served as the Frick children’s playhouse.
Registration fee: $50
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater
10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann Family in 1935, the house is dramatically cantilevered over a waterfall. Named one of “50 Places of a Lifetime” by National Geographic Traveler, Fallingwater is the only major Wright work to come into the public domain with its site, furnishings, and art collection intact. The estate has been entrusted to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Registration Fee: $75
