Ho Ho Ho!
Santa here. I recently stopped in at my favorite pool and hot tub store in the entire world—Eastgate Pools & Spas. You see, I have lots of ‘nice’ pool and hot tub owners on my list this year and I needed to get some ideas for their presents. Wow—These folks have lots of cool stuff sure to make anyone happy. Here’s just a few of the things I found.
For the Spa/Hot Tubbers out there.
Spa scents. They have an excellent selection of sure winners with these. I actually use these too in my hot tub at the North Pole. My personal favorite is one called Monkey Farts. Seriously, that’s the name, but thankfully, the scent really doesn’t smell like monkey farts. I’m told it is their biggest, most popular seller. And what hot tub owner wouldn’t like to tell the kids in the tub to add a little more Monkey Farts to the water. But if you’re a little squeamish about the name, don’t worry. Eastgate Pools & Spas has lots of other great choices.
Spa steps. Having been around for centuries now, I’m not as agile as I used to be. I added a set of spa steps to my personal hot tub oasis some time back and they sure make getting in and out of the tub much easier. Being short, the elves like the steps too. It wasn’t easy for them to crawl over the almost 3-foot height of the cabinet, so steps make it easier. If you have smaller children using the tub, I know they’d appreciate steps, too.
Cover lifters. I admit, I don’t yet have one of these, but after seeing them in action at the store, I put them on MY list. I hope Mrs. Claus is paying attention. These things are cool. They easily attach to the cabinet or deck and provide an easy off/back on option. No more dropping the cover down to the ground where it gets dirty, not to mention difficult to put back on the tub. They also provide a windbreak and a little extra snuggle-up privacy when in the hot tub.
For swimming pool owners.
I found lots of great ideas for these folks.
I personally don’t have a pool here at the North Pole. The temperature here seldom gets above freezing and is often as low as -40 degrees. I know there are some great heater options out there, but I doubt they would be of help to me. But if I lived in the Midwest, I’d most definitely want one. There are ones that fire propane or natural gas, but I’d probably opt for an electric heat pump. It’s incredibly inexpensive to operate. No matter which, they let the pool aficionado open the pool earlier and keep it running much later.
I have a cousin, Fred Claus—who has an above ground pool, and he told me the best thing he added was a set of walk-in steps. They replaced his wobbly old ladder that got harder to use every year as he got older. He added a security gate to the steps and told me that if he ever got around to building that deck he’s been thinking about for decades, he can convert the steps to in-pool only.
I asked one of the sales specialists at Eastgate Pools & Spas what the number one gripe was for pool owners. I was told it was the odious job of hand vacuuming the pool. I can see that being the case as I’m the one that usually vacuums the chalet here at the North Pole. The Eastgate expert showed me their complete line of automatic vacuums. You pretty much just put them in and sit back and relax while they do the work. There are even robotic units that self-drive around the pool that climb and scrub the walls.
That pool pro at Eastgate Pools really knows his stuff and told me about alternative sanitization systems. For Above ground pools, Eastgate recommends the Simple Salt Hybrid Water System. This system uses a small amount of salt to help release natural minerals into the water to kill bacteria and prevent algae. It uses a miniscule amount of chlorine and leaves water softer and less chemically. I also learned about an alternative chlorine system for in-grounds. It’s a chlorine generator that allows the pool to make its own chlorine. This is a higher salt system that relies on electrolysis to convert the salt into chlorine. It’s been millenniums since I studied chemistry in school, so I don’t profess to understand exactly how it works but was told it almost eliminates the need to buy messy liquid shocks and chlorine tablets. On this one, I think the pool dude might have been pulling my leg as it sounds like magic to me.
But they have lots more neat stuff too!
As you might expect, they have pool toys, rafts, and floats, but I was told that these are hot sellers that often sell out before I make my appointed rounds the Night Before Christmas. And speaking about hot sellers, they also carry Big Green Egg grills and grilling supplies as well as outdoor furniture goodies.
Talk about making Christmas shopping easy. These folks seem to have you covered. But if you aren’t sure exactly what to get your special somebody, get them an Eastgate Pools & Spas gift card. I’ll be sure to leave a little room in the stocking for one.
I’d better go now and check on the reindeer. They were having a meeting about who was going to lead the team this year but I’m sure it will be Rudolph. He just ‘nose’ the way. Ha ha.