Look for a package with air and hotel to Vegas. Every day, head out of town to Valley of Fire one Day, to Death Valley another, to the mountains north of town another, to Red Rock Canyon another. Spend the evening walking the strip and watching the free shows in front of the casinos. Don't spend any money gambling.

Any National Park would be nice and all activities are pretty much free. Mount Rushmore/Badlands/Wind Cave/Jewel Cave/Crazy Horse/Custer State Park might be nice. Yellowstone would be great. They have a few cabins there that are just $65 per night. It might be a couple of weeks early(later in June would be better), but much of the park is already open and it would be less crowded. Buffalo River in Arkansas is also a great place. You could camp there, go hiking to several waterfalls, there is ziplinning, and kayaking/canoeing there. If that area interests you,I can suggest many hikes there as I hike there several times a year. Branson is a fairly inexpensive trip as well. You could spend a couple of days in the Buffalo River area and then a couple in Branson.

There is a lot of cabins in the Buffalo National River area as well.

Hmmm. Before I reread your post, I was going to suggest Chicago. You can tailor your interests there to make it a lot like Paris, but no, you're after woodsy/mountainous.

We're doing a road trip w our adult kids and their SOs next month that fits your budget. We're driving from Indiana to Omaha (daughter lives there), spending the night in a decent hotel for around $80. We'll have dinner at one of the fun restaurants in the Old Market -- not too pricy. Last time we were there we spent a morning at the art museum. they have a GREAT collection of western art.

From Omaha, we're driving through Alliance to see Car Henge and the other funky folk art sculptures nearby. Next is a visit to the wooly mammoth site in Hot Springs, SD. We're doing a tipi "bed and breakfast" thaat night where we'll camp in tipis beside a warm water river and have a cowboy breakfast the next day for around $40/pp.

The next day we're doing Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. This is a quick trip for us but if we had more time we'd stay another day in the area in one of hundreds of quaint, cheap cabins. ($60-80/nt)

On the way back we're driving the scenic loop through Badlands and stopping for a couple short trails.

It's a lot of driving but we're road warriors and we expect to spend less than $1000 for the whole trip. That's 6 people, including renting a car for my son and his fiance, gas, lodging, attractions, and even meals.

If you wanted to drive less/spend more, you could fly from Indy to Omaha and rent a car from there for about $500.

Take a look at Quebec City in Canada... its an old french city thats the closest thing to Paris in North America...

I second Quebec, or perhaps Montreal.

Yes, Montreal and Quebec City are the obvious choices if you can do it on your budget.

HTTY

Well looking into Montreal and Quebec city - they are VERY appealing! We'd love to go somewhere that would remind us of France. We absolutely loved it while we were there and would love nothing more than to experience it again! It might be a little high on the budget side. We'd have to drive (20 hours from Champaign, IL) because plane tickets really put it out of reach budget wise.

you could look into driving to Niagara Falls Canada and taking ViaRail to Quebec...

Realistically with a $1,000 total budget flying anywhere from central IL can't be part of your equation as r/t airfares will most likely eat up at least 40% of your budget. That would leave you only about $100 per day for your hotels and meals.

You are better off going someplace within a day's drive of your home (sorry I"m not too familiar with the Champaign area so I can't make specific recommendation) and staying in a decent hotel or perhaps a romantic Bed & Breakfast. That way you'll be able to stretch your travel budget and still get the romance most people want from an anniversary trip.

Check out Winnipeg. It has a beautiful French Quarter. http://www.entreprisesriel.com/saintboniface/saintboniface_e.html

Walking over the bridge over the Red River north of "The Forks" is like walking into Paris. Nothing at all like the French Quarter of New Orleans.
My wife and I have stayed at the HI Hostel in Winnipeg and really enjoy the area around "The Forks". You should be able to stay within your budget. Maybe a night in Minneapolis on the way if you are driving.

"Realistically with a $1,000 total budget flying anywhere from central IL can't be part of your equation as r/t airfares will most likely eat up at least 40% of your budget"

That's what I was thinking too. I think you should really consider Chicago. You can take the Amtrak up for just $56 and not have to worry about parking. A good hotel in a great area can be had for 3 nights at around $500-$600, probably less if you're willing to take a chance w Priceline. You could spend an afternoon at the Art Institute, have drinks at the Signature Lounge in the Hancock Building, check out the free Stained Glass museum on Navy Pier -- a guy from Danville, IL actually has a piece on display there. While you're at Navy Pier you could do the humongous ferris wheel. Try the architectural boat tour too. Just walking the city can be fun and romantic. You could do ALL of that and still have $ left in your budget for a couple of wonderful meals at french restaurants.

BTW, if you have a brother named David, I went to a party at your house when I was in 6th grade. We played Pass the Lifesaver with a Toothpick. It was tres risque!

Ok, slight change of plans. Since we need to leave ASAP by Monday at the latest, we've decided to try our hand at putting together a National Treasure style history trip. We plan on going to the Washington DC Area and possibly Philadelphia to discover the secrets of American History. So any advice on what to check out? I really wish there was a treasure hunter's feel to the trip, you know, visit the landmarks and gather information on a quest to solve a puzzle with clues and stuff. Anyone know of anything like this out there?

Tim

Good choice! The museums and landmarks in DC are mostly free and are great. If you are interested in Civil War history, Bull Run Battlefield is not far from the city.

There are several threads here on the DC sights etc. that you could use to make up a puzzle, maybe your SO could do the same and you could swap clues.