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The inhabitants of Crisfield, Md., have made their living from the water since the earliest days of commerce in crabs, oysters, waterfowl and Chesapeake Bay fish.

Located on Maryland's Eastern Shore opposite Virginia's Northern Neck, the town is known by most outsiders as one of the Delmarva Peninsula's main jumping-off points to the Smith Island and Tangier Island ferries.

Tourists by the busload pass through Crisfield en route to these popular day-tripper island destinations, but independent travelers may find it worthwhile to invest an extra day or two and check out this unique coastal town of nearly 2,700 people.

A bed-and-breakfast operation is often the optimal way to learn the inside scoop on all an area offers. Valerie and Frank Guetens of Bea's B&B were positively brimming with suggestions for activities to do and things to see, as well as observations on how Crisfield is changing.

To glimpse Crisfield's soul, you really should rise before daybreak--certainly before most of the traveling world receives its wake-up calls.

With light barely edging over the eastern horizon, I slipped as silently as possible from my comfortable room in the Guetens' spacious Victorian home (built in 1909 and once home to one of the area's most prominent seafood magnates) and headed downtown toward the marina.

I was almost too late to see Tommy Thompson and Tim Ruth at the public boat landing as they finished transferring 4,000 pounds of live eels to a truck with aerated containers, each of which announced "live eels" in several languages. After receiving payment, they loaded boxed, frozen razor clams (bait for their eel traps) aboard their boat. It was time to get back to work in Pocomoke and Tangier sounds.

At Metompkin Bay Oyster Co., the oyster shucking line had been running since 5 a.m. in the more-than-100-year-old, warehouse-style building.

Workers chip shell edges using a spinning carbide wheel, then hand twist a stout blade to pop open the oysters. Empty shells drop to a conveyor belt where they are deposited onto a massive, somewhat aromatic pile outside.

Upstairs, company founder I.T. (Ira Todd), now in his late 80s, pores over handwritten ledger books while his son Casey supervises action on the production floors.