While driving home from the beach with my dad and brother, I decided to take them on a little detour to see Vollis Simpson’s Whirligig Farm in Lucama, NC. I first learned about the Whirligig Farm (also known as “Acid Park”) from reading about it in the book “Weird Carolinas“. 
The urban legend that goes along with this location says that the sculptor’s daughter crashed her car into a tree while tripping on acid. Supposedly, her father dreamed about the visions she would have seen and recreated them in the form of whirligigs. Some legends even say that the location is haunted. Here’s what we saw when we visited on Oct 1, 2011…
The real story behind the whirligigs is quite a bit different from the legend. I learned that the whirligigs weren’t created as a memorial to a tragic death, but rather are the imaginative expression of a lifelong fascination with whirligigs by Vollis Simpson. Mr. Simpson, now 92 years old, has been creating windmills and whirligigs since he was a young man in the Army Air Corps where he first made a windmill to drive a washing machine. He continued making windmills over the years and it turned into a full-blown passion in the 1980s when he began transforming his pasture at the corner of Volllis Shop Rd and Wiggins Mill Rd into a gallery of whirligigs.
We were fortunate to meet Vollis Simpson while we were there visiting. He was sitting in his shop talking with guests when we arrived. He came out to meet us and took time to pose for a picture with one of his most recent creations in the background.
While I took pictures and video of the whirligigs, Mr. Simpson spent some time chatting with my dad.
While doing some searching on the internet when I got home, I found this interesting interview with Mr. Simpson.
The Whirligigs are in the process of being moved from their current location to the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Wilson, NC. The City of Wilson has received a $500,000 grant to assist in the building of the park and the moving and restoration of the whirligigs. Mr. Simpson told us that several of the whirligigs have already been moved and several more are scheduled to be moved in the coming weeks. I also just learned that on Nov 10th, 2011, at the N.C. Museum of History, Vollis Simpson will be one of six recipients of the North Carolina Award, the highest civilian honor awarded by the state.
Here are some more snapshots I took with my phone while we were there.
