Top 20 Steals for Under $200

$45 Eat at a (teaching) chef’s table
Instead of envying the celebrities and guests on Emeril Live, who sit at the counter and sample the chef’s creations, get a similar experience at Chef’s Table in Tubac, Arizona. There, guests chat with executive chef Noah Aguilar as he prepares a five-course meal featuring dishes like achiote-marinated wild salmon stuffed with crab and sweet corn. Tue–Sat; $45, excluding drinks (520-398-8501; www.anzamarketplace.com). –Teresa Bitler

$41 Cast close by the front porch
Skip the several-thousand-dollar stay at a fancy wilderness lodge. Instead, spend the night at Coyote Rock RV Resort & Marina, with its six charming little cabins on stilts. The cabins are within casting distance of Oregon’s Siletz River, a mile south of Lincoln City, famed for steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. (541-996-6824; www.coyote-rock.com). –Jenie Skoy

$25 Be a winemaker (for two hours)
Shadow Matt and Patrick Rawn, owners of Two Mountain Winery in Washington’s Yakima Valley. They’ll have you pluck and taste grapes, operate the crush machinery, and, finally, taste the vineyard’s wine. (509-829-3900; www.twomountainwinery.com). –Molly Berman

$22 Wear flip-flops to the opera
The Metropolitan Opera attracts the world’s greatest opera stars, but you don’t have to fly to New York to see them. During the 2008–09 season, the Met’s Opening Night Gala and 10 operas will be broadcast live in high-definition at cinemas across the country. First show was Sep. 22. –Sharon Cohoon

$12 Get a quick fix of (lunchtime) theater
At Lunch Time Theater, midweek at Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix, see a 30- to 45-minute play performed by emerging theater companies and new talent in an informal, black-box theater setting. We recommend ordering lunch through the theater’s website, which guarantees you a seat. Check website for schedule; about $12 for lunch and ticket (602-254-7399; www.herbergertheater.org). –Nora Burba Trulsson

$5 Upgrade your wardrobe
At the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Scholarship Store (213-624-1200) in Los Angeles, prices for donated, often name-brand merchandise are ridiculously low: flirty cotton skirts, $1; Rampage and Arden B. slacks, $5 each; bathing suits, $2; belts, $2. And, best of all, store profits go mainly to student scholarships. Closed Sun. –Valerie Nelson

Take in masterpieces
At the Getty Center and Getty Villa in Los Angeles, you can see some of the world’s most important works of art for free. Parking costs $8, but the smart money gets there by bus or bike. –Matthew Jaffe