you are my lobster.

Hey friends, how was your holiday weekend? We spent the Fourth in the city, then headed to Newport for a few days, escaping Boston's hellish heat for a house overlooking the harbor — with air conditioning! Already I've learned not to take these things for granted.

We window-shopped on Thames Street, got sunburned at the beach, hiked part of Cliff Walk, and ate entirely too much good food — stuff like avocado fries and elote washed down with a pitcher of watermelon margs at Perro Salado (So. Good.) and this here lobster — my very first! — with clam chowder and a glass of crisp pinot gris.

I'll admit to being a little freaked out when this landed in front of me (especially when I broke it open to find eggs inside), but it was damn delicious. And now I know how to properly eat a lobster.

Pro tip: turn it around so it's not staring at you as you tear it limb from limb. You won't feel like quite such a barbarian.

newport.

I fell in love with Newport, Rhode Island several years ago when my brother- and sister-in-law got married there. We've visited several times since, and it's become one of those places where I just can't wait to return. Newport to me means gazing up at the mansions that tower over Cliff Walk, peeking in the shops along Thames Street, and sipping cider and slurping chowder on the wharf. I'm hoping to head back that way this year for the Newport Folk Fest. Have you been? You should go.

newport: by water.

My favorite cities revolve around the water. In Newport, Rhode Island, we were lucky enough to stay in our in-laws' in-laws' house just steps from the harbor. For the two days we were there, we did little more than follow the water, from Cliff Walk to the Wharf to the beach. And eat an ungodly amount of chowder.