I came armed with a hat, sunscreen, bottled water, and even a book.

But this is what you must do when you prepare to do battle with the Sprinkles Cupcakes line.

You may recall how last week I intended to run inside the new cupcake bakery at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, then dart across the road to the equally new Kara’s Cupcakes  in the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto. My plan was to compare the two to see whose cupcake reigned supreme. But of course, a lack of time trounced those plans once I spied the huge, snaking line at Sprinkles.

I did make it to Kara’s that day, where there was no line. And you’ve already read how scrumptious I thought those cupcakes were. So I thought it only fair to drag my bee-hind into line yesterday at Sprinkles to finally pass judgment.

At 2:40 p.m. on Monday, there was a line, but not too frightening of a one. Yet again, almost everyone in line was female. Oh, there were three guys queued up, but two of them gave up and left when they were only steps from the promised land — the bakery’s front door. If there ever was confirmation of which sex has the most patience, a cupcake line is unrefutable proof.

The woman in front of me recounted how her kids were so bold as to come last Tuesday — opening day of the bakery. They waited in line for one hour. Thankfully, my experience wasn’t as painful. From the time I planted myself in line to the time I walked out with my cupcake loot, about 25 minutes had passed.

I carried home one banana cupcake with vanilla frosting, one mocha (Belgian dark chocolate cake with mocha frosting), and one chocolate marshmallow (Belgian dark chocolate cake topped with marshmallow cream-bittersweet chocolate ganache). They were $3.25 each, just like at Kara’s.

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