730 calories

McCarran airport in Las Vegas is quite an operation. Unlike O’Hare in Chicago, Dulles outside DC, or Hartsfield in Atlanta, the majority of travelers using McCarran are either beginning or ending trips at the airport.

If you are connecting in an airport, you’re already in Airworld and more likely than not will not be required to clear security again at the connecting airport.

At McCarran, however, my God – security there can be awful. And it’s so inconsistent – the wait could be anywhere from 15 minutes to well over an hour. Sundays, as I recall, are frightful. Everyone is leaving, without having slept or showered after a rough entire night of partying, and nobody looks as happy as they were on the flights to Las Vegas.

The baggage claim area is as much of a multi-sensory violation as The LV Strip itself. Lights, music, huge gaudy signs, and loud promotional announcements for such quality entertainment as comedian George Wallace and The Thunder From Down Under male revue are par for the course.

The terminals have high ceilings, modern technology, and are clean. Dining and retail options are decent (the shopping looks much better before security….it would make more sense for those stores to be after security since people kill more time after the heinous security lines rather than before waiting in them.

During my wait, I fell victim to the ultimate airport / mall food court olfactory aphrodisiac. Cinnabon. They do one thing there, and do it pretty well.