Capturing that perfect moment on your beach vacation seems to be easier than ever nowadays. With the advancement of camera technology in phones and other portable devices, most everyone has a high-quality picture snapper in their pockets at any moment of the day.

It’s not a surprise then, that we’ve seen quite an increase in photos submitted to our Seabrook Photo Challenge. The competition for the top 12 photos to be featured on the Seabrook 2013 Calendar was bigger than ever with over 550 pictures submitted throughout the year! 

You did the fun part – snapping great photos while vacationing at Seabrook and the Washington coast, and we were left with the tough task of picking the 12 best. The stakes were high as each photographer of the winning pictures receives a $100 gift card to the Mill 109 Restaurant & Pub, while the cover picture winner gets a free beach cruiser bike – a well-known trademark of Seabrook’s lifestyle.

Without further ado, we are proud to present to you the 2012 Seabrook Photo Challenge Winners!

The Cover Page

(Photo by Betsy B.)

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This past week has been truly an incredible time for all of us here at the beach!

The excitement began on Tuesday, March 13 with Seabrook’s appearance on King 5’s New Day Northwest. It was such an honor to share the Seabrook story with New Day’s loyal watchers and to announce our Win A Beach House for a Year Sweepstakes!

Since Tuesday, we have been absolutely astounded by the response to the contest. In fact, our contest website was literally overwhelmed by people who wanted a chance to win a beach home at Seabrook! Fortunately, everything is back up and running smoothly, but we would like to extend an emphatic thank you to everyone who gave us their feedback on the contest web site and helped us get it back up to full speed!

Due to the inconveniences resulting from our website’s challenges this week, we’ve decided to postpone this week’s 2-night stay giveaway. Instead, we will be giving away TWO 2-night stays next Friday, right here on the Seabrook 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.

After six weeks of intense preparation and hard work, the Mill 109 Pub has now opened its doors for all excited guests and visitors!

Stop by the brand new pub-restaurant during your visit to Seabrook and try Mill 109’s completely refined menu, diverse beer selection, and enjoy the interior atmosphere celebrating the history of the Washington coast. Or if you’re in the area, just hop on over for a meal or two, you will not be disappointed!

To officially kick off Mill 109’s opening, Seabrook is planning on hosting a grand opening celebration during one of the upcoming February weekends. Stay tuned to the Seabrook Blog for more details.

Mill 109’s official website is also nearing completion and is likely to launch next week. Bookmark www.Mill109.com now for all information about the pub’s menus, hours, specials, and more!

We hope to see you at Seabrook’s new restaurant soon! In the meantime, subscribe to the Seabrook Blog and receive all Seabrook updates directly in your email inbox or in your RSS reader!

Thousands of people from the Pacific Northwest (and beyond) visit Seabrook each year in pursuit of a good time at the beach. And why wouldn’t they? Seabrook is the only place on the Washington coast that offers high-quality lodging, free bikes for cruising around town, many different activities and amenities, and most importantly, access to the long sandy beaches of the central Washington coast!

Seabrook Cottage Rentals strives to make housing accommodations as comfortable and relaxing as possible for those who stay at Seabrook. To see what our guests think of our services, we ask each of them to complete a Cottage Rental Survey after their stay.

By getting direct feedback from our guests on a number of questions, we are able to pinpoint our strengths and identify areas that need further improvement.

This year, over 90% of Seabrook’s vacation rental visitors were extremely satisfied with their stay at Seabrook! Whoo-hoo!

We’d like to thank everyone that provided feedback about their time spent at our beach town. As a reward, we offered one FREE WEEKEND for the luckiest responder to our survey of the last 6 months. So without further ado, we present to you the winner!

Congratulations to Amanda Jones from North Seattle for winning the Cottage Rental Survey Contest!

Please email us at rewards@seabrookwa.com to learn how to claim your free weekend getaway. In addition, you will receive 4 tickets to the Ultimate Beach House, which is open for tours for only one more week!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone that comes and stays at Seabrook, especially those that participate in providing feedback to us. If you have stayed at one of our cozy cottages but have not had a chance to fill out the survey, contact us and we will send you the link to the survey online.

See you all at the beach!