green-getaways-expo.JPGBrooklyn, N.Y. - Tickets are now on sale to the "Green Getaways, Local Food & Travel Expo" at Skylight One Hanson, 1 Hanson Place, (former Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower) in Brooklyn from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, 2011. Tickets are $10 online at www.escapemaker.com/travelexpo and $12 at the door. Kids 10 and under are free. Check out who else is going to the Expo in this newly released web commercial. Hosted by EscapeMaker.com, a guide to local getaways around New York City since 2000, and presented by Amtrak®, Zipcar®, and I LOVE NY®, the Expo will feature over 60 getaway destinations, from counties to local farms, resorts and bed & breakfasts -- within a day's drive or train ride of New York City.
  • Expo attendees will see how destinations and lodgings from Howe Caverns in New York to Woodloch Resort in the Poconos are "going green," and find out what's new in local and sustainable travel. In addition, there will Expo-only escape specials and getaway deals and packages offered by Metro-North and Long Island Railroad.
  • Over 50 weekend getaway prizes will be awarded during the Expo (like a 1-nightmohonk-mountain-house.JPG all-inclusive stay at Mohonk Mountain House -left), and the schedule of "edutainment" includes food demos, a hiking and biking workshop by
Appalachian Mountain Club, travel and sustainability workshops, plus fun kid's activities like face painting and "Geocaching 101."
  • In addition to lodgings and destinations, 20 local farms, wineries and regional food producers will offer wine tasting and food samples in a farmer's market set-up; from Katchkie Farm in the Hudson Valley of New York sampling tomato jam to Crowley Cheese in the Okemo Valley of Vermont sampling muffaletta.
  • To offset the event's carbon footprint GrowNYC is coordinating recycling efforts, City Harvest will be distributing the food surplus to NYC's hungry and EscapeMaker.com will be purchasing carbon offsets for energy use from Green Mountain Energy and Carbonfund.org.
  • Rounding out the day with live music, regional bands like Boston's "Kingsley Flood" and New York's "Pearl & The Beard" will perform.
  • "Dutchess" the 300lb 6ft. milkable fake cow will be grazing by the expo. Try your hand at milking a cow in Brooklyn!
"Our goal is to not only encourage green travel but also agri-tourism," says Caylin Sanders, EscapeMaker.com's President and Founder. In April 2010, EscapeMaker.com won an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences for their "Tastes of New York" webisode -- one in a series that featured pick-your-own farms, wineries and food festivals across the state -- funded in part by a grant from New York State department of Agriculture and Markets and produced by Factory Films. "The great feedback we received from our webisode series really strengthened our resolve to educate our users about all the wonderful foods accessible within a few hours of the city," says Sanders. "We've highlighted destinations accessible by mass transit for over 10 years, but now with the public's keen interest in organic and local ingredients and reducing their energy consumption, in conjunction with the lodging industry's new focus on greening their properties and operations, the timing was finally right to bring the movement all under one roof," explained Margo Jones, EscapeMaker.com's new V.P. of Sales & Marketing. "It's really gratifying that our efforts are supported by Amtrak, a leader in energy efficient travel, and Zipcar, an innovator in reducing environmental impact with their urban car-sharing concept." Media sponsors include Edible Manhattan, Edible Brooklyn and Edible East End Magazine, the Heritage Radio Network, and the Courier Life Publications. Other Expo partners include the Appalachian Mountain Club, Grow NYC Green Market, the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association and Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. I LOVE NY®, New York State's tourism promotion agency, will announce the winner of "The Greenest New Yorker" contest at the Expo. Mass transit to the Expo is encouraged and bike parking will be available. For updates follow www.twitter.com/escapemaker or www.facebook.com/weekendgetaways. More information is available at www.escapemaker.com/travelexpo. EXHIBITORS New York Appalachian Mountain Club Brooklyn Tourism Catskills Tourism City of Peekskill Corning Museum of Glass Dutchess County Tourism Dutchess County Fair Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort Green Mountain Energy Hamptons Visitor Council Howe Caverns I LOVE NY Mohonk Mountain House & Spa New York State Vacation Association Orange County B & B Association Park Slope Copy Rhinecliff Inn Schoharie County Total Tennis Westchester County Tourism Yelp.com Amtrak 3rLiving.com Empire Cruise Lines New Jersey Highlands Region NJ Travel & Tourism Northern New Jersey Cachers Southern NJ Tourism Corp. Pennsylvania Discover Lehigh Valley Woodloch Resort Vermont Good Commons The Meditation Barn Okemo Valley Regional Chamber Old Mill Inn Bed & Breakfast TRANSPORTATION Amtrak Blue Sky Hot Air Balloons Empire Cruise Lines The Knowit Express Bus Long Island Railroad Metro-North Ninth Street Cycles Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Zipcar FARMS, WINERIES & FOOD Acme Smoked Fish, NY - Smoked Fish Brooklyn Food Coalition, NY - Supports Local Food & CSA's Brotherhood Winery, NY - Wine Cabot Cheese, VT - Cheese Clinton Vineyards, NY - Wine Crowley Cheese, VT - Cheese City Harvest, NY - NYC Food Charity Edible Manhattan/Brooklyn - NY Culinary Magazine Floating Bridge Food & Farms Coop - Cheese, tapas GrowNYC, NY - NYC GreenMarkets and Recycling Heritage Radio Network, NY - Culinary Radio Program/Talk Shows Howe Caverns, NY - Fudge Hudson-Chatham Winery, NY - Wine Hudson Valley Duck Farm, NY - Duck & Foie Gras Hudson Valley Wine Country, NY - Wine Association Katchkie Farm, NY - Jams, Jellies, Salsa Millbrook Vineyards & Winery, NY - Wine Organic Valley, NJ, PA, NY - Milk and cream Pride of New York, NY - NY Culinary Association Raaka Chocolate, NY - Artisan Chocolates Red Jacket Orchards, NY - Apple Juices Robibero Family Vineyards, NY - Wine Slant Shack Jerky, NJ - Beef Jerky This & That Jam, NY Jam Whitecliff Vineyards & Winery, NY - Wine Wood Homestead Maple, NY - Maple Syrup/ Candy Yelp.com - Local Restaurant Listings Zone 7, PA/NJ - Farm fresh food delivery service For tickets, please visit www.escapemaker.com/travelexpo

###

Contact: Gail Donovan P: 718-399-2122 C: 917-301-5706 gail@donovancommunications.net