Concierge.com's insider take:

Sprawling across 18 waterfront acres on the Eastern Shore's tranquil Miles River, this smartly organized museum could almost pass for a working port. An old colonial home holds natural-history exhibits, while nearby sheds display a dizzying array of purpose-built watercraft that once worked one of America's greatest fisheries, including the sail-driven skipjack E.C. Collier, which dredged oysters for decades. You can try your luck working scissor-like oyster nippers and tongs from Waterman's Wharf and hoisting up the baited crab traps and eel pots. The more ambitious can enroll in the museum's "Apprentice for a Day" weekend program and help master shipwrights restore boats or build a traditional flat-bottom wooden skiff. And how's this for a gift-shop souvenir? The handmade boats are for sale for a bargain $10,500.

Open daily 10 am to 6 pm.