Over the past month I've noticed a billboard on my way home from work prepared by Mystic Lake Casino.  The visual is a stock image of a guy relaxing by the pool.  The headline is "Relax: Your Vacation is Here."

I realize that because times are tough and people are traveling less that people will try to find more cost efficient ways to vacation.  When I was growing up we called it "camping" (see $5 campsite, some Hot Dogs and an old swimsuit).  Nowadays, the cheap route is a water park or theme park, instead of Disney.

But a Casino?

How does driving to Prior Lake, staying in a 3 Star Hotel, and losing a week's pay anywhere resemble a vacation?

Here are 4.5 better budget ideas for you in case the Mystic Lake Adventure might be too hard to pass up:

1. Visit Lake Superior
2. Leinenkugel's Tour in Chippewa Falls, WI (Adults Only)
3. Visit Itasca State Park (Headwaters of the Mississippi)
4. Taylors Falls (the birthplace of Minnesota)
.5 Go to Wall Drug in South Dakota.  At least after this trip you'll have a cheap plastic toy as a keepsake rather than an upside down checkbook!

Sound off any other better ideas than mine: