Hey, Camp People!

Working with more than 270 summer camps, we here at Everything Summer Camp love to sing the praises of camps all across the nation. This Blog makes an effort to frequently shine our spotlight on the next camp. Today we’re swinging our Summer Camp Spotlight to the renowned Texas Hill Country down South.

There we find Camp Stewart.

Stewart spreads over 500 acres of rugged Texas Hill Country, and include both sides of over a mile of the Guadalupe River—a spring-fed, crystal-clear river. Camp Stewart is situated on both sides of the river in a valley between both hills and limestone bluffs. Natural cedar, giant cypress, and various oaks are abundant, as well as all of the native wildlife around the area.

Stewart has a plethora of fun things to do such as Archery, Arts & Crafts, Camp Craft, Canoeing, Ceramics, Climbing Wall, Fencing, Golf, Horseback. Outdoor Cooking, Riflery, Sports, Tennis, and more! Or cool off at the waterfront with awesome ways to have fun like their Double Slide, Billy Bob Sled, Basic Water Rescue, Blob, Tarzan Rope, Water Skiing, Tubing, Zipline, as well as regular-ol’ Swimming.

Among a plethora of other attractions, Camp Stewart features Tennis Courts, Soccer Fields, a Football Field, Baseball Diamonds, Golf Greens, Riflery and Archery Ranges, Horse Stables for more than 100 beautiful beasts. And there’s also the Crafts Lodge where campers are provided a relaxing, open-air, breezy atmosphere where they can work on cool, creative projects!

Another frequented facility is the Camp Stewart Dining Hall—a comfortable environment with tables and benches to seat each and every Stewart camper for breakfast, lunch, and dinner unless it happens to be one of the weekly cookouts.

Lastly, the 23 cabins with indoor plumbing are of native rock and cedar are built in the same, familiar ‘Texas style’ to complement the beautiful facilities and majestic, natural surroundings. So how does bonding with friends, nature, and yourself sound? Get the opportunity at Camp Stewart; take a closer look when you can and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans and Aliens alike!

Since we started walking on two legs, our species has looked up to the sky in curiosity and wondered if we’re alone in the universe. And, all too often when we look up, we end up seeing seemingly impossible motion from mysterious objects that don’t seem to be of earthly invention. UFO’s are very real, people. So real that today we celebrate National UFO Day.

UFO, if you don’t know, stands for Unidentified Flying Object; and in that sense, UFO’s truly are real since an object that simply isn’t identified qualifies (it doesn’t necessarily mean an alien spaceship as so many people associate with these three letters).

Encounters with UFO’s past, however, certainly do lend themselves to the idea of visitors from another planet, but I’ll let you be the judge. Let’s take a look at several different, well-documented sightings:

Roswell, New Mexico
After the reports of a crashed ‘flying disc’ in the New Mexico desert made their way into the hands of the people on newspaper headlines, the US Military followed up with a statement that it was simply a weather balloon—a drastically different story from what was initially sighted. Since then, interest in conspiracy cover-ups have been on the rise with Area 51 and eyewitness interviews that raise skepticism.

Phoenix Lights
‘Aliens on parade’ is pretty much the best way to describe this bizarre incident. In 1997 a mass sighting occurred in which hundreds of thousands of people watched a mile-wide V formation of strange lights as they silently glided over 300 miles of Arizona and surrounding areas. Phoenix got the best show as these lights slowly dragged along the night sky for about three hours.

Declassified Navy Video
A three-year-old video from the U.S. Navy that captures a mysterious unidentified flying object was recently declassified earlier this year. The camera stays on this flying object until it zips off at an incredible speed in a fashion that no earthly aircraft can travel. One of the pilots who encountered this object said it was “Not of this world.”

Almost all scientists are in agreement that the universe is too vast a place for life NOT to exist outside our home planet. Aliens…almost undoubtedly are out there. We are not alone. However, whether or not they’ve visited our planet is still in question despite the wealth of mysterious incidents that people have reported and strange discoveries on our planet from long ago.

Have we been visited in the past? Will they visit us in the future? What will we discover should we meet? There’s no way to know if we’ll get these answers in our lifetime, but it certainly is an entertaining topic on which to meditate, especially today on UFO Day. Enjoy aliens on your brain and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Happy Independence Day, Camp Fans!

If you’ve been able to hold off on your summer camp shopping until now—OR—if your kid’s already away from home for their summer camp stay, but you want to pick up gear for next year, then luck is with you today! And that luck is going to stay with you all week long—through Saturday, the 7^th. You can save on select camp gear with the

Everything Summer Camp Fourth of July Sale!!!

Check it out:

Pop Up Soft Trunks
First and foremost, our Pop Up Soft Trunks will be on sale at 10% off which cuts $15 from the regular price! Soft Trunks are a great alternative for campers who are restricted from using a metal trunk. The wire frame inside Pop Up Trunks collapses to a conveniently compact size for storage outside of camp.

Camp. Ts
Next, check out our Camp. Ts which are marked down by 25%! What state is most home to you? Is it the one where you were born? Is it the one where your currently reside? Is it the one where your summer camp is? Pick up whichever state your heart belongs to and do it for only $13.50!

Avex FreeFlow Autoseal
And then there’s the Avex FreeFlow Autoseal Water Bottle with 25% shaved off its original price tag as well. The Fourth of July Sale leaves this superior water bottle at the price of just $13.50 too. Keep your camper hydrated at camp and do it at a discount!

Aside from our Pop Up Soft Trunks, our Camp Ts, and our Avex Autoseal, our Name Labels and Clothing Stamps are on sale at 20% off. We also have our Laundry Bags marked at 15%. And, yes, that goes for our Personalized Laundry Bags as well! And Floor Mats for your camp bunk (including personalized mats) are marked 10% off!

Other departments will have select items at 10% off, such as Insect Repellent, Sunscreen, Sleeping Bags, Speedo Swim Wear, and Flashlights. Enjoy finding great deals across our site and take advantage of our free shipping for orders over $49 as long as the sale lasts. Have fun shopping and, as always, thanks for reading! Happy Fourth!

- John

Hey, Cool Kids.

It’s plain to see that all your futures are so bright since you need shades! Sunglasses offer us a wealth of benefits protecting us from issues of the eye including Cataracts, Macular Degeneration, and Skin Cancer (10% of skin cancers are located on eyelids) among other things. They also make you look cool. Join me in discovering more about everyone’s favorite eyewear to honor today—National Sunglasses Day.

Here are three random facts about shades:

To Brow or Not to Brow
Style is a big deal when it comes to sunglasses. But did you know that the visibility of your eyebrows can make or break it for people? For some folks, it’s preferable. For others, it should never be done. And yet, others believe whether your eyebrows stay hidden or they stand proud above your shades depends on variables such as face shape and brow thickness.

P-p-p-poker Face
For at least a few hundred years, Chinese judges in the Middle Ages wore sunglasses not so much for their protective properties but more so their masking abilities. These judges wore their shades to hide any expression that their eyes may reveal—the same purpose for which hardcore Poker players employ their sunglasses.

Just One Co.
It’s surprisingly 70% of the world’s designer sunglasses that all come from the same single company. Brand names like Burberry, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, and others all actually come from a company in Italy called Luxottica. Luxottica also owns the Ray-ban and Oakley brands.

Enjoy those brilliant days at summer camp with your own pair of sunglasses! You can find your own pair of sunglasses from the Real Kids Shades brand on the Everything Summer Camp main site! Check it out by clicking here. Make sure you’ve got your sunglasses for those bright, sun-shiny camp days and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, all you Water Fanatics!

If you simply live for time on the water, then you’re going to love today and its accompanying Blog post from yours truly. Today is National Canoe Day! If Canoeing is your thing and if you can make it happen today it sure would be nice to celebrate your love for this hobby today!

In celebration, I thought we could take a close look at the history of the Canoe and how it came to be.This innovative vessel has been proven to be more than 10,000 years old in the case of the Pesse Canoe, found in the Netherlands—the world’s oldest known canoe. Way back when, people made Canoes out of materials that they had around. A natural abundance of trees offered bark and tree trunks.

Dugout Canoe
‘Canoe’ originates from the Carib word ‘kenu’ which translates to ‘dugout’. And that’s how this vessel received its name as these ancient craftsmen and craftswomen dug out trunks of trees in order to construct these hollowed-out, single units.

Birch-Bark Canoe
But Native Americans quickly developed a second design which utilized birch bark. This Canoe style was constructed right-side up. It was essentially a skeleton of wood covered in bark, lashed together with roots and then planked, ribbed, and sealed.

For thousands of years both of these Canoe styles were the kings of water transportation until very early on in the 19^th Century when steam-powered engines took the reigns for bulk transit by both boat and train.

Demoted to ritual and leisure activity, transportation by means of the Canoe took a giant plunge in popularity, but has stayed *ahem* AFLOAT through fandom of the human culture that has made its imprint in the body of Canoes everywhere. The Dugout and Birch-Bark styles were replaced twice over now—first with wood and canvas for its materials and eventually (about 50 years ago), the aluminum Canoe.

No matter what materials your Canoe is made of, enjoy moving on the water in it and appreciate how long our species has used this craft as a means of transportation! Happy National Canoe Day and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John