My Partner F and I have sometimes been described as the Frasier and Niles Crane of Chicago.  We enjoy fine restaurants, have a penchant for Mid-Century Modern furniture and have been known to take in an occasional performance of The Mikado at The Lyric.  However, as much as we enjoy having recreated our own version of that Seattle based sitcom here in the Midwest, we have come to realize that it’s time to freshen up our repertoire.

It seems that the epicenter of cool has shifted south from Seattle.  At least that’s what we’ve heard. We’ve become huge fans of the IFC series Portlandia. As a result, we are now considering fashioning ourselves after the various bohemian, artsy, foodie, techie, crunchy, lefty characters that populate this hilarious sketch comedy show.

Of course, in order to get properly into character F and I will need to take our act on the road to do some field research.  For the past several months we’ve been thinking of taking a trip out west to visit The City of Roses.  However, fares from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest have remained stubbornly high.

Therefore, I was thrilled when The Flight Deal reported today that Alaska Airlines we offering a fare of $178 roundtrip between Chicago and Portland.  Upon doing further research I discovered that United had matched the fare.  Here’s what availability looks like in January / February:

We’re thinking of taking a long weekend in order to make the best use of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 21) or Presidents’ Day (February 18) Holidays.  Here are a couple of potential itineraries:

These are some really great fares that have me tempted. Perhaps a trip to Portland might just be what I need to satisfy my latest travel urges.  In addition, could it be Kismet which is pushing us towards Portland?  Both of the cities I’ve been talking about in this blog entry have a common theme – they’re known for their great coffee.  Spooky, huh?

Oh wait a minute, neither F nor I drink coffee.  Oh well, maybe we’ll take in a microbrewery instead.