EscapeMaker.com Opens Agritourism Pop Up Shop at the South Street Seaport

Presented
by Amtrak, the EscapeMaker
Pop Up Shop located inside the Fulton Stall Market on

207A Front Street, will be open to the public Thursdays
and Fridays (12:00pm-6:00pm) and Saturdays and Sundays
(11am-5pm), March 31st through April 24th. Visitors
can pick up info on green travel, farm escapes, apple
picking, wine and craft brew trails and local getaway
packages to inspire them to start planning their vacations.

Drawing
a 250-mile travel radius around New York City, EscapeMaker
offers getaway ideas within a few hours of New York City
by car or by train with a focus on farms, wine and brew
trails and culinary tourism. The shop and events presenting
sponsor is Amtrak, encouraging taking mass transit to
local destinations to lower one’s carbon footprint.
Agricultural sponsors include The New York Apple Association,
Vermont Tourism of Vermont and Dutchess Tourism,
Westchester Tourism, Corning & the Southern
Finger Lakes, Sullivan County Visitor’s
Association and the Long Island Convention &
Visitor’s Bureau – all within New York State.

In
addition to the pop up shop hours, EscapeMaker will host
three FREE tasting showcases inside the market
and spilling outside onto Front street, which are scheduled
for:

Sunday,
April 10th – Local Craft Beer, Cider & More
Sunday, April 17th – Local Wine, Cheese & More

Sunday, April 24th – Local Farms & Family Getaways

All
events run from 11am-5pm and will feature food and
beverage samples from local producers, live music, presentations
by local farmers, winemakers and brewmasters and information
on local vacations, where to go apple picking and visit
a farm.

After
five years of hosting a one-day Local Food & Travel
Expo that focused on green getaways, the first of its
kind in the country, EscapeMaker’s founder, Caylin
Sanders, wanted another challenge. “A pop up shop
was a natural transition for us. Our annual expo in Brooklyn
drew thousands of people and was very successful, but
we decided that the 1-day format of a consumer food and
travel show was too limiting, ” says Sanders. “People
want to sample food and wine and to support their local
producers, but they also want to connect and share their
travel experiences, bring their kids and families, as
well as actually book weekend getaways with knowledgeable
experts. This new venue gives us the opportunity to create
that community dynamic,” comments Sanders.

EscapeMaker’s
Pop Up Shop serves as a promotional program of the Fulton
Stall Market, an initiative of the South Street Seaport
District. Fulton Stall Market is a marketplace for local
foods connecting farmers and producers with the growing
Lower Manhattan community. Located in the historic district,
where the City’s markets began in the 1700’s, it’s
a first step toward development of a year-round indoor
public market for New York City featuring local products
and educational programming celebrating the Seaport District’s
vibrant market history. Already the market has been offering
educational programming and a CSA to local residents through
partner Local Roots.

Passersby
can also tour the new photography exhibit, “Organic,”
based on the book by Francesco Mastalia. Twenty-one striking
black and white 10-foot daguerreotype oversized photos
of Hudson Valley farmers line the building around Beekman
and Front Streets. Each photo features a scannable QR
code that links viewers to EscapeMaker.com and more information
on how to visit or buy from them.

Bob
Lewis, Fulton Stall Market’s lead consultant comments,
“It’s exciting to not only put our farmers and
producers in the context of agritourism but also to be
able to offer quality family-friendly events to our neighbors
and Seaport community."

After
April 2016, EscapeMaker’s agritourism tents can once
again be found stocked with local getaway information
in Union Square and various outdoor Greenmarkets
in Manhattan and Brooklyn as part of a marketing partnership,
solidified earlier this year with GrowNYC to promote Greenmarket
farmers with on-site farm stores and experiences and local
agritourism destinations. EscapeMaker’s new website
is also slated to launch in Summer 2016.

For more info, visit: //www.escapemaker.com/agritourism
info @escapemaker.com or 877-997-2726

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