OWA Parks & Resort is the closest real amusement park to the beach — Tropic Falls indoor waterpark, Tropic Falls amusement park (outdoor coasters, family rides), Downtown OWA (restaurants, shopping, the Cirque shows). It’s owned by the Poarch Creek tribe and they’ve put serious money into it. Weekend pricing is steep; weekday is more reasonable. If you’ve got kids and weather’s a problem, OWA can swallow an entire day.
Tanger Outlets Foley is the bigger of the two Tanger centers in the region and runs the usual suspects (Polo, Coach, Nike, Under Armour). Decent for back-to-school. Better than fighting beach traffic on a 95° afternoon.
Foley is a real working town, not just a tourist appendage, which means the food scene is different than the strip. Lambert’s Cafe (“home of throwed rolls”) is the famous one — a tourist destination in itself, lines all day. The locals have their own short list and we’ll get to those.