Summer (June) trip to the deep south

See our list of trips.

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Take a River Boat tour at 10:00 a.m.
Take a Glass Bottom Boat tour at noon.
Depart the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park at 1:30 p.m.
Arrive at the Florida Historic Capitol Museum at 2:00 p.m.
Depart Tallahassee at 4:00 p.m.
Arrive in Little Talbot State Park at 7:15 p.m.

Spend the morning at Little Talbot State Park and play at the beach
Around noon go to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (about an hour away from the state park).
Depart the zoo around 5:00 p.m., and drive to Savannah, GA.
Arrive in Savannah around 7:30 p.m.

Costs. I use dollars for the year I research costs and then convert those dollars into Myrfti units. A Myrfti is a sort of inflation-adjusted price. If you have 100 Myrfti, you have 1% of the median year-round full-time American worker's wage/salary. So, if the median year-round full-time American worker earns $50,000, a Myrfti is equal to $5, and 100 Myrfti are $500.

The dollar prices will soon be out-of-date, but the Myrfti prices should be close to what you would pay in any year. Just find the most recent median full-time year-round income for American workers, and divide that by 10,000 to find what 1 Myrfti is worth. Then, once you have that figure, multiply it times the Myrfti costs to get an estimate for the current dollar price of the trip.
For this trip, the two-person prices assume an adult couple sharing a bed, and the four-person costs assume a family of four with two children aged between 12 and 17.

2 persons $580
4 persons $580

2 persons $615
4 persons $615

2 persons $1.800
4 persons $1,860

2 persons $1,440
4 persons $1,480

Assuming a family of four with two adults and two teen-agers, the total admission fees estimated here include:
Memphis Zoo
Graceland
Mud Island
Mississippi State Capitol
Manship House Museum
Vicksburg Battlefield Museum
House Tour in Natchez
State Museum Louisianna
Audubon Zoo and Aquarium in New Orleans
New Orleans Art Museum
Bellingrath Gardens and Home
Mobile Carnival Museum
Glass Boat Cruise
River Cruise
Florida Museum donation
Park admissions in Florida State Parks
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
Savannah History Experience
Ships of the Sea Museum
Drayton Hall
Magnolia Planation
Georgia Aquarium
Rock City
For the two person admission estimated costs I’ve multiplied the four person cost by 65%.

2 persons $695
4 persons $1,068

2 persons $904
4 persons $1,808

The total cost estimates are ignoring the costs of purchasing souvenirs, but as the food costs are probably exaggerated, the total costs with spending money for souvenirs is likely to be about what is predicted here.

Total Cost for a family of four is about 11.2% to 12.0% of a middle-class (household with income equal to 120% of the median year-round full-time worker’s pay) household’s income. For two persons the cost ranges between 8.6% and 9.3% of the middle-class household’s income.

Comments

To afford a vacation like this every two years, a typical family budget for a family earning 120% of the median year-round full-time income ($59,400 would be 120% of about the median income of $49,500 in 2011, which happened to be close to the median household income) might allocate money in this way each month:

Housing and utilities: 27.7% ($1370 per month)
All taxes: 16% ($790 per month)
Car expenses (gas, insurance, maintenance, purchasing): 12% ($595 per month)
Groceries, food, and household supplies: 10% ($495 per month)
Savings for a trip like this every two years: 5.8% ($290 per month)
Savings for a bigger trip every three years: 5.2% ($260 per month)
Savings for retirement: 5% ($250 per month)
Savings for children's college expenses: 5% ($250 per month)
Health insurance and health care expenses: 5% ($250 per month)
Charitable giving: 2.3% ($114 per month)
Miscellaneous other expenses: 2% ($100 per month)
Clothing: 2% ($100 per month)
Other entertainment, Internet, cable television, movies, etc.: 2% ($100 per month)