Best Of 2015

Sports & Recreation

Sports & Recreation
Best Beach
1. New Smyrna Beach

2. Cocoa Beach

3. Playalinda at Canaveral National Seashore

Best New Place on I-Drive  to Get High
Photo by Rob Bartlett
8401 International Drive, 866-228-6438, officialorlandoeye.com

Looking to get elevated on I-Drive? We’d never advise anything illegal (and there’s absolutely no smoking inside the air-conditioned capsules), but we can’t think of a better place to get reeeeeally high than Merlin Entertainment’s new Orlando Eye observation wheel at I-Drive 360. During your 20-odd-minute odyssey up to 400 feet and back, you’ll be able to see for miles and miles and miles – so long as a sudden lightning storm doesn’t turn your revolution into a bad trip.

Best Billiards Hall
1. Sportstown Billiards, 2414 E. Robinson St., 407-894-6258, sportstownbilliards.com

2. Trick Shots, multiple locations, trickshotsbilliards.com

3. Spatz Billiards and Liquor, 1025 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, 407-647-3354, spatzwp.com

Best Boot Camp
1. Camp Gladiator, 2501 General Rees Ave., 512-494-6966, campgladiator.com

2. Orlando Fit Body Camp, 1223 N. Mills Ave., 407-536-9540, fitbodybootcamp.com

3. SWEAT, 727 W. Smith St., 407-701-7430, sweatyourassoff.com

Mayor Carl T. Langford Park
Ashley Belanger
Mayor Carl T. Langford Park
Sure, the city randomly selected the trees that they dubbed “significant,” but we’d be stumped to find a more appealing way to while away a fall day than visiting Orlando’s most scenic parks (Dickson Azalea! Leu Gardens!) and most prestigious live oaks (Constitution Green Park’s 175-plus-year-old luminary! Loch Haven’s Mayor!). It’s a little shady how they chose the honorees, but luckily it’s even shadier in the tree tour’s mossy embrace.
Best Ball Kicking
via kickball.com
kickball.com

Forget adult coloring books – blow off your adult frustrations with the game you always played during recess in elementary school. The World Adult Kickball Association is alive and kicking (har dee har) in this area, with three leagues playing at Barnett Park in Orlando and Soldier’s Creek Park in Longwood.

Best City Park
1. Lake Eola Park

2. Mead Botanical Garden, Winter Park

3. Dickson Azalea Park

Best Throwback
Photo via Universal Orlando
6000 Universal Blvd., 407-363-8000, universalorlando.com

The new Peter Jackson Kong movie is on its way, so naturally the powers that be at IOA are planning to tap into the hype behind the blockbuster, as well as capture the sentimental set who still remember the epic Kongfrontation ride that closed in 2002.

Best Dog Park
1. Lake Baldwin Park Dog Park (formerly Fleet Peeples), Winter Park

2. Dr. P. Phillips Community Park

3. Barber Park Dog Park