Photo by Jason Greene

Best flies on the wall

Orlando Outfitters
2814 Corrine Drive, 407-896-8220; orlandooutfitters.com

Audubon Park is Orlando’s hipster-central neighborhood, so it may seem an unlikely place to find a store that caters to the rabid outdoorsman. But Orlando Outfitters on Corrine Drive, a Bass Pro Shop-type store that caters to the fly-fishing crowd, is located right in the thick of it. In addition to more mundane fishing gear, Orlando Outfitters also has a huge selection of colorful, handcrafted flies: pink ones, plain ones, sparkly ones, ones that look like little mice. If you can’t find something pre-made that strikes your fancy, there are also supplies to build your own lures. Even if you’re not that into fishing, this shop is worth stopping into just so you can gawk at the impressive selection of flies on the wall. (Fly on the wall! Get it?)

Best place to get booted out

Stockman’s Harness and Saddle Shop
1820 Lee Road; 407-295-0331; stockmansharnessandsaddle.com

A homey, multi-room establishment on Lee Road, Stockman’s sells tack, clothing and assorted paraphernalia for riders both English and Western. Serious horse people know that saddles run into the thousands of dollars, which is why there’s such a huge selection of maintenance supplies, as well as an in-house repair service. Best of all, Stockman’s tack exchange buys and sells used saddles, stable supplies and even boots. Non-riders who are just looking for a form-fitting pair of jodhpurs, a well-broken-in pair of tall shiny boots, or a crop can find the authentic deal here – no questions asked.

Best mani-pedi

Koi Nail Spa
2025 W.P. Ball Blvd., Sanford; 407-302-3655

Local nail blogs (and yes, Orlando has a few) are generally devoted to DIY manicure-crafting, with their intimidating array of shatter finishes, splatter art, rhinestones and nail charms. But Kari Klein, puppeteer, reformed nail-biter and mistress of the Once Bitten Blog, recently recommended Koi Nail Spa to us on Twitter: “I do my own nails, but when I have someone else do them I go to the Koi Nail Salon in Sanford.” When you want a tiny bouquet of rhinestone-centered flowers painted on your toes but aren’t able to execute it yourself, this is the expert-anointed place to go.

Best new therapy

The Salt Room
1804 N. Mills Ave.; 407-965-3065; saltroomorlando.com

Isak Dinesen said that salt water can cure anything – whether it’s sweat, tears or the ocean. The Salt Room isn’t offering anything that will make you perspire or weep, just a “salt cave” (a big white room full of chaises longues) with a salt-air circulator and the promise that “halotherapy” alleviates asthma, sinus infection, eczema, allergies and other skin and respiratory ailments. It might seem illogical to pay for artificial sea breezes when we’re only an hour from the actual beach, but who knows – that hour behind the wheel might negate the therapeutic gains. It’s not cheap – about a dollar per minute unless you buy an unlimited pass – but at a certain point in the spring when the pollen count starts to soar, we’d consider paying almost anything to stanch the sniffles.

STILL GREAT A flashback to Best of Orlando, 2005

Best place to get small

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