Beginning around the turn of the 20th century, people flocked to boom towns like Greenbackville and Franklin City of Virginia's remote Chincoteague Bay to cash in on the lucrative oyster trade. Most eventually settled for simple rural live, living a cash and barter economy, commuting on foot or by boat, always dlosely tied to teh tide and water. From mystery in the marsh to jealous lovers, these accounts of life on the Bay are filled with work boats, crab pots and salt water.

As "come 'eres" - newcomers - to the Eastern Shore, authors Martha A. Burns and Linda S. Hartsock bring a fresh perspective to life on the Bay. They present here the memories of a vanishing way of life in rural America, largely in the words of those who lived it and worked it. Much of the language, insights and emotion of the last century are here for all to read, coupled with the authors' observations and interpretations of their neighbors and the bay they call home.