Newbie Scope ideas and Questions...

Hi all, im new to astronomy I owned one of those cheap dinky department
store telescopes before... long time ago- and enjoyed looking mainly at the
moon. I had a few questions to ask well- anyone that will answer them.
first off- with all UNDER 10,000 dollar telescopes just see stars as dots of
light? I guess this might be a stupid question- but personally I was
underwehlmed looking through telescopes at our local photography stores Mars
Night last week. Maybe the telescopes didnt have much power- but stars were
just dots of light. Dont get me wrong- i find it amazing thinking about how
long ago the light reaching my eye was sent out- but im curious if thats all
of stars you see with non- observatory power scopes.

2. I love looking at the moon. Its just my favorite object Ive seen thus far
through a scope- the detail amazes me. Ive seen it through expensive scopes
( went to an observatory in hawaii when i was there for vacation- up in the
mountains- saw all sorts of objects through all of these telescopes- simply
amazing detail)
My goal is to get a scope that gives me the best detail of the moon for the
price- and have it be able to take photos I own a 35mm pentax SLR so Ive
got the camera aspect covered- but scope wise i dont know what id need. I
enjoyed looking at mars too- and still do- but we've had bad weather lately.

With the above in mind- can anyone recommend a good telescope- and does
anyone have any pictures that might show me the detail i would see in stars-
mars- and of the moon through that recommended scope?

i look online and see all sorts of pictures - great detail- beautiful
colors- etc of stars and of the moon and such but I have no idea if it was a
huge obsevetory that took them- or just a backyard astronomer- so id like to
get a feel for the detail im getting.

Yes I know the number one rule is try before you buy- and im trying to
contact some astronomy clubs in my area to do just that but i thought a
second opinion never hurts-- right?


thanks in advance