I left my waistline in San Francisco

With some time to kill in San Francisco, I decided to do my own little culinary tour of up and down the Embarcadero. With 11.4 miles of walk planned (3 roundtrips from the Ferry Building to Ghirardelli Square), I felt completely justified eating everything along the way.

Light Caramel Latte from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Ghirardelli Square: Coffee shops that offer drinks in caramel flavors get big points for me, those that have sugar free caramel are in a league of their own. This cup was the perfect way to start my morning without the dose of high calorie beverage guilt that plagues me.

Almond Croissant at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market: My search for the perfect almond croissant continues; not bad, needed more almond paste and a flakier crust. I only ate half, no need wasting precious stomach space if it does not measure up to Byerly's Almond Kringle or the perfect croissant consumed at a Sydney bakery in 1997.

Strawberries at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market: Organically grown strawberries were good, but I couldn’t taste the difference from the non-organic strawberries. For $2 more, they should be the best strawberries I ever tasted.

Lamb Sausage at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market: I died and went to heaven. My favorite tasty animal grilled over an open flame and served on a sourdough bun. The sausage was lightly spiced to let the lamb taste through. Although I wanted the sold out soft shell crab sandwich, I was not disappointed with the replacement.

Lobster Bisque in a Sourdough bread bowl from the Fisherman’s Wharf: Most stands on the wharf had New England Clam Chowder, which I am not a fan of. One stand offered bisque and I was sold. The bread bowl was excellent, and the bisque very tasty but left me wanting more lobster. Honestly though, I always want more lobster.

French Fries from In and Out Burger: Feeling like I’m the only person on the planet without and In and Out Burger experience, I stopped in for fries. After waiting 20 minutes, I asked the woman where my order was to find out they often lose “just fries” orders. Finally getting my fries, I was utterly disappointed. They are very fresh and potatoey, but somewhat bland. Maybe it was because I didn’t eat them with an In and Out burger, or maybe being a coinsurer of fried potato, this was unable to live up to the hype.

Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop at Ghirardelli Square: The Ghirardelli Café had a longer line then a Space Mountain on a Saturday in July, so I visited the to-go shop and enjoyed my caramel sundae by the bay. Everyone should have a Ghirardelli before they die; smooth ice cream, decadent toppings with a chocolate square on top. I had trouble understanding all the tourists walking around with other ice creams when Ghirardelli has undoubtedly the best sundae on the planet.

As enjoyable as my day eating in the sun was, it is more fun sharing the fine dining with the one you love. A loaf of sourdough from Boudin Bakery, a bottle of red zinfandel from Kokomo vineyards and a bar of dark chocolate from Ghirardelli made the trip back to Minneapolis where I could enjoy a taste of San Francisco with my husband.