Before we dive into this week’s post on Olympic National Park day trips, we would like to congratulate and thank Cassie Lentz for sharing her Lake Quinault story. Send us an email and we’ll get your $25 Mill 109 gift certificate in the mail!

OK, now to the adventure!

As the second of five of our favorite Olympic National Park daytrips, this week we are featuring Kalaloch and Ruby Beach.

We start our trip at the Kalaloch (pronounced clay-lock) Lodge which is located on the southwest coast of the Olympic Peninsula and approximately a 60-mile drive from Pacific Beach, WA.  The drive does not follow the coast line as there is no road through the Quinault Tribal reservation, but it will take you through beautiful areas on the peninsula and past Lake Quinault which we featured in our last Olympic National Park daytrip blog.

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With a campfire burning, stars twinkling, and a warm breeze blowing, there’s nothing better than spending an evening outside with friends and family.  Such a perfect summer evening calls for the perfect summer dessert and there is nothing so quintessentially summer as a s’more!  All it takes is a few gooey marshmallows, a delicious chocolate bar, and a scrumptious graham cracker to create this classic summer treat. Whether you’re looking for a new take on the traditional recipe or just want to stick with what you now, here are five delicious s’mores recipes!

The Classic S’more

Nothing quite like the original!

1 large marshmallow
1 chocolate candy bar (1.5 oz)
1 graham cracker

Skewer the marshmallow on a long pointy stick over an open flame until it begins to brown and melt. Break the graham cracker in half and sandwich the chocolate between the cracker and the hot marshmallow.  Allow the marshmallow to cool for a moment before eating.

Chocolate Peanut Butter S’mores

Three of the most crave-able treats combined into one!

2 large chocolate chip cookies
1 teaspoon hot fudge ice cream topping
2 large marshmallows
1 full-size peanut butter cup

Spread the bottom of one cookie with fudge topping. Then, using a long pointy stick or a long-handled fork, heat the marshmallow over an open flame until golden brown, turning occasionally. Carefully place the marshmallow and a peanut butter cup on the fudge-topped cookie.  Top with remaining cookie and serve immediately.

Ginger & Caramel S’mores

Give your s’more a kick with gingersnaps and caramel-filled chocolate!

2 large ginger snaps
1 Ghirardelli dark chocolate-caramel square
1 large marshmallow

Place a Ghirardelli dark chocolate-caramel square on one of the two ginger snaps. Next, using a long pointy stick or a long-handled fork, heat the marshmallow over an open flame until golden brown, turning occasionally. Carefully place the marshmallow on the chocolate topped ginger snap.  Top with remaining ginger snap and serve immediately.

Nutella & Raspberry S’mores

If you’re nuts about Nutella, try this European take on the American classic!

1 tablespoon Nutella
2 large marshmallows
7 ripe raspberries
1 Honey Wafer, cut into quarters

You can purchase the delicious Honey Wafers from the Honey Wafer Baking Company in Illinois (don’t worry they ship!).  Started in 1925 by Macedonian immigrants, the original recipe brought over from Europe is still used today.  Take one of the 8” wafers and cut into quarters, using two quarters per s’more.  On one quarter, spread Nutella over one side of the wafer.  Next, skewer the marshmallow on a long pointy stick over an open flame until it begins to brown and melt.  Sandwich the marshmallow  between the Nutella covered wafer and the other quarter of the wafer.  Allow the marshmallow to cool for a moment before eating.

Banana S’mores

This gooey cousin of the s’more is so deliciously messy, it takes a fork to enjoy!

1 large marshmallow
1 chocolate candy bar (1.5 oz)
1 large banana, ripened to taste
1 graham cracker
Paring knife
Long pointy stick
Long-handled tongs
12” x 12” sheet of aluminum foil

Pull away one side of a banana’s peel, slit an opening about three quarters of the way through the banana and insert small chocolate pieces and marshmallows into the cut. Re-cover the stuffed banana with the banana’s peel, wrap the entire banana (peel and all) in foil. Lay the foil packet on the hot coals of the campfire for a few minutes. Once the chocolate and marshmallows are melted, carefully remove the foil packet with tongs. Open the packet, pull off the banana peel and crumble graham cracker crumbs on top. Place it in a bowl (it’s hot!), grab a fork (its messy), and enjoy.

Ever since its release, our Lily Walk neighborhood has been immensely popular among buyers and Seabrook Cottage Rentals guests!

Even now, after all 17 homes have been gobbled up and the neighborhood is completely sold out, people are still interested in finding out more about these lovely beach homes.

That is why our design team has been working long and hard on implementing a similar neighborhood to Lily Walk in other parts of Seabrook. In fact, we are all but ready to release our brand new neighborhood, Madison Lane!

Madison Lane will be a neighborhood outfitted with similar house styles to those found in Lily Walk and will be a little closer to the center of town and the beach.

If Lily Walk & Madison Lane aren’t your style, then get excited for our other upcoming East Main neighborhood, Madison Lane’s “Seabrook Avenue” neighbor. For more information on Madison Lane and East Main cottages, stay tuned to the Seabrook Blog. A big announcement is coming soon!

Don’t want to wait? Then check out Seabrook’s Front Street Townhomes – incredibly priced and situated just a stone’s throw away from the beach and retail district! This is the best way to be super close to the ocean without buying an oceanfront house!

Many of you have probably witnessed all the growth Seabrook’s experienced lately. If you haven’t yet, browse our available vacation rentals and pick your favorite beach cottage!

In the meantime, we’ve prepared a slideshow of the latest Lily Walk progress…enjoy!

Horseback riding is a very popular activity at Seabrook, so we decided to put together some interesting facts about horses we think everyone should know. Horses are gorgeous animals with a lot of character, and there are literally hundreds of useful tidbits one can learn about them. Today, however, we pick out the top 5 fun facts. Here are the ones that made the cut:

1. You Can Tell a Horse’s Age by its Teeth

Ever heard the sayings “straight from the horse’s mouth” and “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”? Horse teeth have been fascinating for scientists for a long time, and it is generally believed that you can tell a horse’s age by counting its teeth. Wear and tear may also factor in determining the age of the horse, although there are still many that don’t believe in this method.

2. Horses Spend More Energy Lying Down!

This one is just the most counter-intuitive fact in the history of fun facts! But apparently it’s true, and it is the single most important reason why horses generally sleep standing up. Yep, you read that right, horses can sleep while standing. Okay, being hunted by vicious predators is also a key reason to sleep standing up, but it’s just more fun to think “saving” energy is the factor. To accomplish this feat, horses lock their legs in, and avoid falling over. When are humans going to evolve to that level?

3. Horses Can Drink 10 Gallons of Water A Day

Another very common saying is “you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink”. Apparently, though, if the horse decides to take a drink on its own, it can fit up to 10 gallons in a single day! That number is just astounding! Make sure to help your horse to a room-temperature water, however, as really cold water on a hot day can upset the horse’s digestive system.

4. A Horse’s Head Weighs 10+ Pounds on Average

Speaking of 10, imagine having a brain the size of a potato and your head weighing 10 pounds?!? 10 Pounds is about the weight of an average bowling ball! That is one heavy head! Makes you wonder, do horses have inherently strong neck muscles? Or inherently weak ones for that matter? If anyone has the answer of this, please enlighten us in the comment section below!

5. Horses See 2 Different Images from Their Eyes

Technically called monocular vision, horses can use both eyes to look at two different objects since they are on each side of their head. Hence, they can use one eye to watch the front, and another to watch the back in case predators are around. Or, if they are on the Washington Coast beach strolling around, they can look at the ocean and at the beautiful coastline at the same time! We’d love to borrow this “feature” at least for the Pacific Ocean sunsets?

Horses really are magnificent creatures, and we are very happy to have them be a part of Seabrook. Know any other interesting facts about horses? Share them with us below, and we can all learn from each other!

Update: While the clam digs scheduled for Long Beach have remained canceled, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife has given the green light for all clam digs on the Mocrocks beach scheduled for this upcoming weekend. Here are the dates and evening low tides:

• Friday, Jan. 29 (5:58 pm, -1.5 ft.) – Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks
• Saturday, Jan. 30 (6:41 pm, -1.5 ft.) – Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
• Sunday, Jan. 31 (7:23 pm, -1.2 ft.) – Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch

The weather in January may have been surprisingly beautiful, but it seems like clam digger’s won’t get the chance to enjoy it. A clam dig scheduled for today, January 27 at Long Beach, has now been canceled by the State Department of Fish & Wildlife after it was confirmed that marine toxin levels in the water are too high for safe clamming. Recent testing found unusually high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, in clams collected at Long Beach last week. Unfortunately, this type of toxin cannot be removed by freezing or cooking the clams, though no human fatalities have been reported from PSP poisoning in the last 70 years.

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