Hah! Well you've hit the nail on the head, I'm in California and clam chowder with good fresh clams is a rare treat.
I use canned clams in my chowder, and I usually reach for some fatty pork product to render fat for sauteing the veggies and as a finishing garnish (I once splurged on some guanciale, but wasn't a discernable enough upgrade to be worth repeating). Interesting to know that the chowder isn't traditionally thick. I can't think of a single time I've had it at a restaurant where it wasn't, which is why I was adding extra thickeners to try to match that expectation.
It's been a while since I've grown parsnips, but I saw a contestant on the Great British Bake Off make a parsnip cake (as opposed to a carrot cake), and that's got me itching to grow them again.