not following the directions caused me to get stuck on this one.

using SharePoint Designer, backup the site you want.

Site –>Administration –>Backup Web Site –> Select a location and save

create an empty site. (this is where i messed up)

to create an empty site do the following:

File –> Web Site –> General –> Empty Web Site –> Enter a site name

Then you will have a empty site to restore to.

Site –>Administration –>Restore Web Site –> Select your backup file –> Click Advanced  (make sure your new empty site name is there) –> Click OK