The conference is located in Craigville, which is a village on Cape Cod located near the towns of Barnstable and Hyannis. The address is The Craigville Conference Center, Lake Elizabeth Drive, which is off of Craigville Beach Road, directly across from the beach.
The Conference site is located about 90 miles (1.5 hours) from both Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts and T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island.
It would be easiest to rent a car from one of these airports & then drive to the Conference site.
Alternatively, express bus service (see below) from the airports to either Barnstable or Hyannis, followed by a taxi (see below) to the conference site, is possible. Contact the bus companies for schedules and call any taxi company listed below for transport to the conference site. If you are traveling to the conference in this manner, we can probably send a student to pick you up in the conference van. Let us know ahead of time of your plans and we'll provide you with a cell phone contact number to use. See below for more information.
Alternatively, two airlines fly between Boston and Cape Cod. From the Barnstable Municipal Airport (508) 775-2020 in Hyannis, it is a short taxi ride to the Craigville Conference Center. The airlines are Cape Air (800) 352-0714 and US Airways (800) 943-5436. There may also be a connection between Cape Air and Jet Blue. Barnstable Municipal Airport also serves Newark, New York, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Thus, you could fly into New York or Newark and then take a short flight over to Barnstable.
The airline city codes are: Boston (BOS), Providence (PVD), Cape Cod (HYA).
You can find further tourist information at the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.
Bus Service:
Travel by Bus from Logan Airport: Before you get to Hyannis Terminal, the bus will make a stop that is closer to the conference center. It's called the "Barnstable" stop -- also called the "Park/Ride Lot at Routes 6 & 132". It's very recognizable. You'll have been on the bus for an hour total. You will have gone over a lovely bridge called the Sagamore Bridge that goes across the Cape Cod Canal. There's a stop right at this bridge, it's kind of under construction there, and then the bus gets back on the highway and goes for 6 exits. The bus will get off at Exit 6 and pretty much immediately pull into a parking lot adjacent to the highway. There's a gas station, a Burger King restaurant. It's like a rest stop area for highway drivers to pull over to get gas and food quickly. There's a big parking lot where commuters to Boston leave their cars for the day. This is where you want to get off.
You can go inside and near the restrooms you will see a public telephone. For a quarter (25 cents) you can make a local phone call to my cell phone. Dial 1-508-237-6265 and let me know you've arrived. The conference center office is 1-508-775-1265 and Jacci can find me on the site if I don't answer my own phone.
You are not even ten minutes from the conference center and someone will zip right over to pick you up. It is not a very large or busy place, so it'll be easy for whoever comes to pick you up to find you. If we're organized, we'll have an RMA sign, but I don't think that's even needed.
Car Rental:
Taxi Service at conference site:
Note: Ask the driver to take you to the Craigville Conference Center located across the street from Craigville Beach.
Driving Directions:
The Craigville Conference Center provides these directions: CLICK HERE
From Boston (approximately 1.5 hours): Ask the car rental company for instructions to get you onto the Southeast expressway (Route 93 South) to Route 3 South. Follow to the Sagamore Bridge. Cross the Sagamore Bridge to Route 6 East. Take Route 6 east to Exit 5. At end of ramp, go straight across Route 149. Take the first right onto Old Stage Road. Follow to the stop sign and take a left, you will still be on Old Stage Road. Proceed to the light and go straight, then straight at the next stop sign and straight through the next light. You are now on Craigville Beach Road and you will see the beach on the right, once you pass the long gray beach complex, the road will start to curve to the left, you will see the green and white Craigville Conference Center sign on the left. Take this left onto Lake Elizabeth Drive and follow signs from there. Park in the lot to the left of the Tabernacle and check in at the Inn, which is a two-story white building with columns.
From Providence (approximately 1.5 hours): Follow 95 North. Take Exit 20 for I-195 East Providence. Follow I-195 East for the Cape Cod/The Islands exit (exit 22A). Take the exit onto Route 25 South. Ignoring signs about exits for Cape Cod and Hyannis and Route 6, drive like a local and stay on Route 25. Follow Route 25 South over the Bourne Bridge onto Cape Cod. The bridge will place you on a rotary circle. At this rotary, take Route 6/6A toward Hyannis (if you think of the rotary as a circle that you enter at 6 o'clock, you'll drive counter-clockwise and exit at about 8 o'clock). Please note that on this traffic circle is a great place to stop for some seafood...you'll see a place that looks like a lighthouse next to a gas station. Tell Larry that you are coming to Catherine's conference and he'll treat you right! I recommend Larry's lobster rolls and clam chowder. Once you've exited the rotary as instructed, you'll drive alongside the Cape Cod Canal for a couple of miles. At the traffic light, turn right onto Route 6 East. Follow Route 6 to Exit 5. At end of ramp, go straight across Route 149. Take the first right onto Old Stage Road. Follow to the stop sign and take a left, you will still be on Old Stage Road. Proceed to the light and go straight, then straight at the next stop sign and straight through the next light. You are now on Craigville Beach Road and you will see the beach on the right, once you pass the long gray beach complex, the road will start to curve to the left, you will see the green and white Craigville Conference Center sign on the left. Take this left onto Lake Elizabeth Drive and follow signs from there. Park in the lot to the left of the Tabernacle and check in at the Inn, which is a two-story white building with columns.
Location: The conference is being held at Craigville Conference Center, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Craigville is a village on Cape Cod and is located on a bluff overlooking Nantucket Sound and Craigville Beach. The Craigville Conference Center is in the midst of the small private village of Craigville with its unique Cape Cod cottages, fresh water ponds, wooded areas, and private beach on Nantucket Sound in the Atlantic Ocean. Five congenial and rustic guest houses will accomodate us (in single and double rooms, many with private baths, some with ocean, marsh and pond views) within easy walking distance to the ocean. Hearty meals (including a traditional lobster banquet) served in a dining room overlooking the Red Lily Pond, which is the home of abundant wildlife. There are some nice photos of the conference center here.
History (from "Cape Cod's Craigville, by M. Vuilleumier"): A list of famous Bay Staters (people from Massachusetts) can be found here. The founders of Craigville were members of the Christian denomination of one of the four ecclesiastical bodies which today forms tne United Church of Crist. The camp meeting place was established in 1871 and was names in honor of the life and ministry of Dr. J. Austin Craig, a pominent leader of the Christian Church. The Village on the bluff overlooking Nantucket Sound and Craigville Beach is home to some 90 cottages, many of them now year round residences. The Village Green is dsurrounded with cottages, some with Vistorian "gingerbread"; several are on the Historic Register. The Tabernacle was dedicated in 1887 and is the center of life of the Village. Since 1960, the center has been run as a year round conference and retreat center serving annually some 33,000 guests. Craigville Beach has long been recognized as one of the best on the east coast. It was named the 4th best in the world in a NY paper's July 1921 editorial that said "This beach had no undertow, no current, no dependencey on tide, a sandy sloping bottom and warm water. In the summer the Gulf Stream keeps water temperature in the 70's."
Tourist Information: For more information about Cape Cod, visit the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. Click on their link "things to do" to find something that matches your interests.
Notable Sites of Interest
Plimouth Plantation (one hour away) is a living village that recreates 17C early colonial life. Exhibits about the Wapanoag Indians, the first Thanksgiving, and what it was like to live in early America.
Heritage Museum & Gardens (20 minutes away) is "famous for its Dexter rhododendrons that bloom late May into early June. The beautifully landscaped grounds are a naturalized woodland park on the edge of upper Shawme Pond. A Shaker round barn houses the J. K. Lilly III Automobile Collection with its stunning display of antique automobiles. The American History Museum exhibits military miniatures, antique toys, Native American artifacts and the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame and exhibit. An operating hand-carved carousel and many of America’s most distinguished artists’ works are on exhibit in the Art Museum."
Provincetown, located on the tip of the Cape, is absolutely worth a day trip (or an extended stay before or after the conference). It's about an hour from the conference site.
Chatham, located on the elbow of the Cape, has a charming downtown full of specialty shops and fine dining without the touristy kitsch. Plan a day of shopping in this small village about 30 minutes from the conference center.
The Kennedy Compound is run by the National Park Service as a site of interest. Located minutes from the conference site, it contains the homes of Joseph P. Kennedy and two of his sons, Robert F. and John F.
The Cape Cod National Seashore is run by the National Park Service. It's about 45 minutes from the conference site and will be the site of our Thursday excursion if our boat trip gets rained out.