You can do better for cheaper with a reflector. Many of the reasons we talked about for why a big reflector is easier to make than a big refractor are true for small telescopes as well as for large. What you would WANT to buy depends on how you would use it. If you are serious about astronomical observing of faint objects or seeing detail on planets, then you probably want to have at least a 6 or 8 inch aperture reflecting telescope. If you want to do astrophotography, you will want it on a solid equatorial mount with a drive motor for tracking.
Serious amateurs can spend MANY thousands on a telescope.
I suggest you chalk your current telescope to experience. Start reading Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines and look at the ads. Meade and Celestron are good brands where you won't go wrong, but you can also get a good telescope from Edmund Scientific, probably for a little less money. Like you, I immediately thought about possibilities for this event. Of course, I'm not that knowledgable.