Many families spend several weeks at a Beach House as a yearly tradition. Single families visit to take advantage of quiet one on one quality time, while other families may arrive to enjoy the company of each other and watch the children play in the sand like they are at camp. Some couples and families come together for the perfect backdrop and ambiance catering to a wedding or other special occasion. So whatever keeps you coming back to a Family Beach House, we want to hear about that special time you have spent with your family and friends.

Help us to envision your memories. The little things like how you loved the coolness when walking over the hard wood floors, the comfie porch swing with cloudlike cushions you’d rock for hours in, little footsteps running back and forth on the boardwalk to the beach or intimate sunset dinners on the terrace are what helped make your stay at a Family Beach House so special. They are the things that will take you back to the Beach House and could help you win a Hawaiian Tropic Beach Survival Kit.

Send your Family Beach House story to: bestfamilystories@beachhouse.com

Our Tenth Winner is Barbara L. from Fontana, California

Carlsbad, Southern California - Every year our family looked forward to our 2 weeks vacation in the summer on the sunny warm California coast. It was the same every year. We would ask the girls where they wanted to go for vacation to which we already knew the answer...the beach house in Carlsbad. Not that my husband and I minded. We have been all over the world and there is just no feeling like spending the day walking along the soft sand of "our" stretch of beach and being able to walk to the beach house at the end of the day only to be lullabyed to sleep by ocean waves speaking to us through an open window at night. Our beach house was our sanctuary from telephones and TV, a place where we reconnected as a family talking, playing board games and forgetting the worries of this world.

When the girls were young they would find new friends that shared an interest in finding that perfect shell or building the perfect sandcastle. As they grew older their interests changed to boy watching, surfing, achieving the perfect tan and shopping the local merchants for a new swimming suit. This gave my husband and I a golden opportunity to do our favorite thing in the whole world...local antique shopping. But the nights were still the same as we would get together and order pizza and bring out the board game for family bonding.

We are now expecting our first grandbaby and our vacation is scheduled for a few weeks after he is born. My daughter already has plans to bring him to the beach house and start her own family beach house memories. Once again I'll have someone to walk along the beach, collect shells and build the perfect sand castle with. And at night you can be sure that a soft ocean breeze will lullaby him to sleep.

Our Ninth Winner is Cindy S. from Sarasota, Florida

Longboat Key, Florida - My fondest memories are of spending one week a year at a beachhouse on the Gulf of Mexico. My family would rent the house from a friend and my 2 sisters, who already had families of their own, and my brother and I would all stay in the house. Those were light happy years - times of carefree fun and no worrying about anything.

I remember waking in the morning to the wonderful smells of breakfast and my older sisters and parents sitting at the table talking. The kids would always be raring to go and begging to go in the water. Sometimes my nephews and I would be dressed in our cowboy and indian outfits. We were very creative back then. We had to wait until the adults were ready to go - then it was a race to the water. One of us would always fall and the laughter of the others was imminent. We would walk the beach looking for coquina shells and sharks teeth. Then came the sand castle and the screaming when the waves rolled up on us. It didn't take long to learn to build that sand castle a little farther from the shore.

Oh how I long for those days. Although my parents are gone now, my memories are stirred, and I would love to start this tradition again with my family.

Our Eighth Winner is Sheryl P. from Tracy, California

Aptos, California - Fun and sun seeking families gather in Aptos, California the last week of July anticipating another year of camaraderie and reunion. Our family, along with three others, make this trek each year. Our neighboring beach houses separated by leaning windswept and sun-bleached fences, but connected by the spectacular beach and friendship.

Southbound seagulls skim the ocean shoreline like a single silver bullet, reminding straggling beachcombers of "The Birds". Turquoise blue paint peels off the local coffee house, revealing the original coat of long forgotten sunshine yellow. On the beach, children squeal and seabirds squawk. The day's last sandcastles wash away with the tide. Reluctant families pack up their striped umbrellas and creaky beach chairs. Colorful towels and faded blankets are shaken until the last grain of sand is gone. Mothers squint in the sun, calling to their children. Fathers crush the last of their beer from the can.

Ah, it's good to be back.

Heading back into the houses, wistful children watch the beach fade from view. They point at errant kites and Frisbees clinging to trees scattered along the shoreline road.

At night, we take turns gathering at each other's beach houses for dinner. Expansive windows and decks offer breathtaking views of the sunset. As the last dish is washed, we gather for a night of board games, cards and more laughter. The crashing ocean waves provide the background music.

Our week at Aptos is the highlight of our year. As my children grow and look back at their lives, I'm sure those weeks will be among their best memories.

Our Seventh Winner is Liz P. from Manlius, New York

Ship Bottom, New Jersey - I am a sentimentalist at heart and love to reminisce about our family vacations at Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. These memories are particularly poignant now that my parents are no longer alive.

Both of my parents hailed from New Jersey and settled together in Central New York. The first vacation I recall as a child was to the famiy beach house on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The house was situated on a beach-side street and you could see the dunes from the screened in porch. We would spend every day of our annual vacation on the beach collecting shells, making sand castles and running to the ice cream man who would park his truck at the beach entrance.

As I grew older, our activities would vary and included long bike rides from one end of the island to the next, surf fishing and crabbing. I will never forget our first meal of "Jersey Blue" crabs that we had caught that very day! I can still see my mother waving from the beach blanket as my father and I jumped the waves that crashed ashore. Nor will I ever forget the many, many summers we loaded the car and headed to Ship Bottom for another few weeks of making family memories.

Our Sixth Winner is Stephanie L. from Cypress, Texas

Hawaii - A tropical breeze scented of plumeria gently swayed the palm trees as if they were dancing to a Hawaiian love song. Our beach house faced towards a beautiful emerald ocean. My new husband and I walked hand in hand barefoot on the lovely Kona beach. We had just finished saying our wedding vows and the moment could not have been more perfect. We both viewed the most beautiful sunset that we had ever seen. Beautiful yellows, oranges and fiery reds swirled together. The ocean sparkled like a jewel. The Hawaiian landscape made the beach very exotic and romantic.

The beach house that we stayed in was very exotic. It blended very well into the Hawaiian surroundings. It had a thatched roof with a perfect little balcony facing the ocean. Standing on the balcony was very peaceful and relaxing as the sounds of waves came rolling into shore. The inside of the beach house was decorated in a Hawaiian palm tree theme with greens and tans. There was a ceiling fan in the beach house to keep us cool. We had no television, phone, or radio at the beach house, which made the stay even more exotic. Behind the beach house were many different tropical flowers and plants that sent a tropical scent throughout the entire beach house.

I will never forget this beautiful place and the wonderful beach house we stayed in, and sitting under the palms trees drinking out of a coconut with my toes in the sand.

Our Fifth Winner is Betty C. from Hot Springs, Arkansas

Edisto Island, South Carolina - Every year my three sisters and I spend a "chick week" at an agreed-upon beach house. Sometimes our daughters come, too. Last year we rented a beach house on Edistor Island, South Carolina. It was beautiful...the beach, shopping, kicking back, sharing the year's happenings and just enjoying each other.

One night we gathered on the back porch and spent hours chatting. One of my sisters said she heard that one of the beach houses had "haints", which were ghosts or poltergeists, and the only way to keep them from doing their mischief was to keep a colander and a broom in the house. Legend has it that the ghost is so busy counting the holes in the colander and the straws in the broom that it doesn't have time to do its "haunting". We all had a good laugh about that one.

That night I got up to get some water and noticed one of my sisters on the porch sound asleep in a beach chair with, of all things, a colander on her head and a whisk broom clutched in her hand. I quietly awakened everyone and told them to bring their cameras. On the count of three we all snapped pictures (with flash, of course) of our sleeping ghost buster. She jerked awake, the colander went flying and the look on her face was priceless!! Will we ever let her live it down.....I don't think so!!

Our Fourth Winner is Kim E. from Los Angeles, California

Santa Catalina Island, California - Just thinking about going to Catalina Island makes me happy! The two weeks my family spends there every July is like an escape to a completely different world, even though I live smack-dab in the middle of Los Angeles, and Catalina is only (as the 4 Preps sang) "Twenty-six miles across the sea."

The best time to arrive is at night. Riding through the ocean on the ferry in the dark, you're almost unable to see the island in front of you, until you turn into the cove and are struck dumb by the beautiful lights of the town of Avalon and the houses on the hills above. It's one of the most beautiful sights imaginable.

The lovely beach is less than 2 blocks from the house we rent. There are plenty of activities for those inclined - horseback riding, snorkeling, boat tours, hiking, golf, and the guys in our group generally participate. But pretty much every single day, you're much more likely to find all us girls hanging out right on the beach under "our" palm tree, catching as many rays as possible (SPF 30 always generously applied of course.) For us, reading or playing Scrabble is about as strenuous as it gets.

I imagine that if I ever get to the south of France, I'll think "hey, this looks just like Catalina, except everyone is much nicer and speaks English!"

Our Third Winner is Laura D. from Miami, Florida

Vanderbilt Beach, Florida - For a decade our family has had the tradition of getting together every Memorial Day weekend at the shore. We all pack up in our cars and travel the two-hour drive across Florida to stay at a group of beach "condos" on Vanderbilt Beach. Now the funny thing is that we all live within ten miles of each other. Yet, the stress of our hectic lives leaves us very few times where the whole family can schedule a full-fledged get-together. So we all make it a point to make that weekend our sacred time that no one can take away from us.

Somehow, when we arrive, all our problems, family squabbles, and distractions just melt away with the tide. Each day begins with the kids peeking in on each other's back porch to see whether or not wet bathing suits are still hanging from the previous day's swim or if they are already being worn, ready for the day's adventure. Whoever is the first to wake fills the coffee cups and then the hunt to find "just that perfect spot on the sand" is on. Cousins chase dolphins, grandparents hunt for shells and sisters and brothers pose for pictures with the sunset. We retire the evenings with rotating hosts of enormous potluck dinners and laugh and talk until the wee hours of the morning. It's as if we stepped back in time to when families really got to know each other without the stirring rush of modern day life. The bond of family is regenerated year after year at our little hideaway at Vanderbilt.

Our Second Winner is Tamara L. from Wake Forest, North Carolina

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - My girlfriends and I have a beach weekend each year (since we are single and do not have other 'families'), where we rent a beach house at North Myrtle Beach, SC, for some sun, fun, rest and relaxation.

We rent a large house that will hold 20-24 of us, and everybody brings food to share. We do things together as a large group (like going out dancing at Broadway on the Beach), and then we also do things as smaller groups, depending on our interests.

There is something so wonderful and relaxing, falling to sleep to the sound of waves crashing to the shore, and waking up to a bright sunshine, and the sounds of seagulls waiting for you to come out and join them, and sharing it with friends.

One of our favorite things during our last trip was when we all came back from a night on the town, and there was a lightning storm. It was magnificent sitting at the large picture windows in the living room, and watching the light display across the black sky and sea, with no interference from the outside world. We still talk about how beautiful that night was.

Our First Winner is Rick S. from Wilmington, North Carolina

Kure Beach, North Carolina - The beach house our family visits each summer is an actual door way to another world. The house is ocean front and part of the border of dunes and bushes that show where land ends and beach begins. We drive up to the back of the house, the air is still, hot and sticky as we enter. Inside the mood is instantly changed as bright pastels, sea shell patterns and pictures of oceanscapes replace our conservative white and beige motif at home. We walk through the house to the front door, anticipating the porch view of the ocean. As we open the door, a rush of air surges through the house like an airplane cabinet depressurizing. The once open back door slams shut as if to say, my family may enter but the world from which we come must stay behind.

The temperature on the front porch feels 10 degrees cooler and a constant breeze tickles the skin and creates new hairdos. The sounds of traffic have been replaced by waves, seagulls and umbrellas flapping in the wind. We are in another world and there is no looking back, at least for a week.

Send your Family Beach House story to: bestfamilystories@beachhouse.com