Sometimes when you look around and read about countries in distress, unjust governments, kids who kill cats and frustrating foreign policy, you have to surrender yourself to kindness and beauty and love so you don’t crumble from the weight of it all. The other week my friend Kylee and I went on a roadtrip through eastern North Carolina: through Tarboro, lunch at Dick Hot Dog’s Stand, Vollis Simpson’s whirligigs, lots of roadside cemeteries in the middle of fields, Hills of Snow and a complete tour of Shadowhawk.

Here’s a lovely video of Mr. Simpson’s work by Neal Hutcheson of Sucker Punch Pictures. I love the way the sound is so perfectly captured and the details of his whirligigs explored.

Along the way, we were lucky enough to meet Mr. Simpson and get a full tour of Shadowhawk by Wild Bill. Vollis Simpson makes the most beautiful whirligigs in Lucama, North Carolina that seem to pop out of nowhere. He was kind enough to let us walk through his workshop full of bits of metal waiting to be turned and twisted and run on the wind. Shadowhawk is a backyard Western town built by “Wild Bill” Drake. After 30 years of being in westerns (including a recurring part as the town drunk in Gunsmoke), he married his agent, came back east and built Shadowhawk in his own backyard.

Listening to both men talk about their creations was inspiring, lovely and well, true. In a world of war and famine and horror and violence, spending an afternoon with two men making masterpieces in their backyards was just what we needed. Taking a step back away from computers and cell phones, we followed our maps and wondered what our next destination would bring. For more photos of our trip, click over here.

More about the places mentioned above:
Dick’s Hot Dog Stand
From Windmills to Whirligigs
Roadside America (Shadowhawk)
RoadsideAmerica.com (Vollis Simpson)
Complete list of giant ice cream across America
Off the Map, Travelogue (complete with video of Mr. Simpson himself!)