I got an early taste of summer this weekend when I realized that my heating system has gone completely out of whack. The temperature outside was around 65° and my thermostat is set to 60°, but the indoor thermometer read a scorching 90°! And I’m STILL getting heat! While all I can do is to keep the AC running full-blast until they fix the problem, it made for a rather uncomfortably hot and sticky weekend. We did, however, managed to drive down to Newport, RI yesterday to partake in the Great Chowder Cook-Off, the first of the tourist town’s many summer festivals. The ads report over 3000 gallons of chowder served up by over 30 restaurants to compete in three main categories, including clam, seafood, and creative chowder. Though each booth served only a smidgeon of their steaming concoction, we were so chowdered out by the end that we gave up on any hopes for seconds and just placed our ballots before leaving. Though I would’ve liked to explore the town a bit further if we hadn’t been so zonked-out, we were glad that two of three of our choices took first place in the contest, making it a worthwhile trip after all.