Poverty Point State Park

About seven years ago, the people of Delhi built a man-made lake at Poverty Point State Park. These days, it seems to be the pride and joy of the town. Two years ago, they built cabins right on the lake. People with money have built their own houses, behind a locked gate, on the lake, too.

Yesterday, we interviewed a 96-year-old woman who told us all about the history of Delhi, how it changed during the oil boom of the 1940s, how it changed again when all those plants left in the 1980s. Right now, ConAgra is relocating from the Pacific Northwest to Delhi. And the rich people are relocating from Delhi's center to the lake. The town, she said, is likely to be a completely different one in a few years.

The lake was supposed to reenergize the town's economy, but mostly, she said, people just head straight to the lake. They don't spend a lot of money in the town.

At any rate, we contributed to the lake economy this week, and it was awesome. (We have contributed plenty to the local grocery store economy, though, I promise. We also have stopped in at the coffee shop and the drugstore lunch shop.)

For $95 a night, you can rent one of these cabins on the lake. There are two sets of bunk beds and one queen, so if you brought enough friends over, it could really be a cheap stay. There's free Internet and cable TV, too. Aubree made us a delicious Southern dinner of corn on the cob, blackeyed peas, collard greens and mashed potatoes. We had a blast staying in the cabin, and on our next trip South, we're going to book it for the whole stay.

They stay pretty booked up (and one burned down last month!), so we could only get in for one night this time.