December 14, 2013 Fruit cake festival, Independence, California

We had a very action packed day today. The Christmas parade in Lone Pine and the Fruitcake Festival.

The bus at the Boulder Creek Campground near Lone Pine. We almost had the campground to ourselves. We did have our own loop. The Christmas parade was action packed. Started with the color guard carrying flags, a couple decorated cars throwing candy, then the float pulled by a tractor, the 4-H kids with their goats and a few dogs, followed Smokey the bear, the emergency vehicles (fortunately only running the sirens intermittently). Before the parade we gave our bench to a couple of adorable , very interesting senior women who had grown up in town. One lady was 96 and had lived here since she was 20. If you look closely behind the tractor you can see them watching the parade.

And last was Santa on a fire engine throwing candy. After the parade split a BBQ beef at Sug’s BBQ  which was so good we had to go back and get another to split.

 

Downtown Lone Pine. It is a fun little town in the middle of spectacular scenery. We found this mural on the front of a building in the alley.

We drove partway up the Whitney Portal road. In the summer it goes to the trail head to Whitney and the John Muir trail.  The road goes from around 4,000 feet in Lone Pine to 8,000 feet in 11 miles to the start of the trail. Whitney pictured here is over 14,000 feet tall, the highest peak in the lower 48. The moon rising over the campground at sunset.

Entry fee to the festival is either a fruit cake or eggnog. All are shared later. Our entry into the fruit cake festival. Judy made the display. It is the submarine Nautilus from 20,000 leagues under the sea. The theme of the festival is 20,000 fruit cakes under the sea.  This Nautilus has blinking LED lights and a propeller that turns. I made the fruit cake last year in Florida from our Mothers recipe and sent it to Judy. She froze it all year. They have categories for the oldest fruit cake, the one that has traveled the farthest , the one with the most solids , theme fruitcake and judges choice. We were going for oldest, farthest and the best theme. We got there early to get a good place for the fruit cake. Judy whipped up this helmet in 30 minutes this afternoon, I spent days on my costume that came out less than I anticipated. We are standing under the giant fruitcake suspended from the ceiling.

We were escorted by John dressed as the Kirk Douglas character Ned from 20,000 leagues under the sea.  A framed photo of President Bush with a fruitcake saying ‘They hate us because of our fruitcakes’.

The decorating was great. There were lots of these jelly fish made from pie tins , rick rack and ribbons. There were green packing bubbles as kelp.  The Fruitcake King was brought out in my decorated kayak-the royal boat. Notice the containers of candied fruit for the cakes, coral and kelp on the boat. It was placed on a creeper and two young mermaids and I-the royal boat pullers- pulled him out. John was in the back to steady the boat.

Here is the king after he was crowned with his fruitcake crown mounting his royal throne- a whale.  He was presented the crown by Nancy, the sego sea grass. The king was very entertaining all evening.  After the presentation of the king there was a hula lesson. The two young girl mermaids  next to me and I competed as a mermaid group in the costume contest later.

The winners of the contest were: First prize the oil slick, second prize Judy with her helmet and the mermaid trio came in third. The other two mermaids disappeared before the publicity photo. Some of the many other costumes were the chicken of the sea and his mermaid, the fruitcake fairy, Santa's mistress with the Grinch who stole the water.

Ned with his octopus and trident(a fork ) and his eggnog-complete with a dimple on his chin, two women dressed as the ocean, and a crab. Meanwhile the Judges judged the fruit cakes. One of the judges was pictured here with the official  nut-o-meter, for determining the winner for the most solids. The judges are judges in real life in the courthouse.

Ta da, we won the oldest fruitcake. Here is a star fish fruit cake, an elaborate cake carved as a ship, with masts on it’s side with a huge frosting wave and a shark eating a crew member. It won the theme award. And 20,000 fruitcakes under the sea. It won the judges award. The fruit cake fairy’s won the most solids.

After the entertainment by some young local musicians, at the climax of the ceremony was the cutting of the archival fruit cake. The cake is 9 years old and preserved with brandy and powdered sugar and kept in the bio hazard container-excuse me- the fruit cake shrine and brought out each year.  It is handled with latex gloves. The king chooses a royal taster to taste it each year.  The MC for the night Captain Nemo was great. It was great, very comical and just sleazy  enough and tongue and cheek  to be really fun.