Spring (sort of) Break Trippin' - Visiting the Neighborhood

Spring break time...even if the weather wasn't very "springy".  We took out for a short road trip (minus Aaron who had to work) to Pittsburgh.  Ahhh Pittsburgh, such a tropical location!  My goal was to take in all things Mr. Rogers.  With the 50th anniversary of the show this year there has been a renewed interest in the neighborhood.  I grew up watching Mr. Rogers so there was no small amount of nostalgia involved. 

Our first stop was the Heinz History Center.  A fun and interesting museum with the added bonus of a small exhibit of items from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood including a part of the original set, X the Owl's tree and King Friday's castle

A collection of puppets from the show

After our visit to the museum, we spent some time walking along the river and grabbing some geocaches.  The next day we headed to Latrobe, PA - Fred Rogers' hometown.  We headed to the Fred Rogers Center on the campus of St. Vincent University where there was another exhibit of items from the show.

Puppets

Mr. Rogers' sweaters...hand knit by his mother.

Daniel Striped Tiger's clock

The building also housed the archives from the show.  Although they were not open to the public, windows had been placed so that visitors could look in.  There were rows and rows of boxes filled with production notes, fan mail, and paperwork as well as puppets, set pieces, and all types of memorabilia.  

After our visit, we drove a few miles to Unity Cemetary to Mr. Roger's grave.  It was a small family mausoleum up on a hill at the back of the cemetery.

Our final stop on the "Mr. Rogers" tour was in downtown Latrobe to drop by the statue of Mr. Rogers in a small downtown park.  It was cold and rainy but we couldn't pass up a quick photo-op.

Such a fun nostalgia-filled time finding stuff from the show.  We could use a little more Mr. Rogers in our world today!