Have to agree that unfortunately the only way to make really professional sites is to learn HTML - that said, my favorite free way of designing web pages is to use the original Mozilla browser (not Firefox). They offer a wonderful tool in: File > Edit Page which allows you to alter text, pictures, etc. If you find a page with a format that appeals to you, load it then tweak the items to make it your own. Otherwise if you have a few $ to spare, Dreamweaver is hard to beat.

Good luck!

btw, although you can use this to edit say Travelocity receipt pages, you shouldn't do it because it's just wrong