Nothing but nobody at Melbourne International Airport

Nothing but lights and empty chairs, except for a fellow techie sitting at the laptop terminal and talking on his phone.

My roommate gave me a ride to the airport about two hours before my flight. That way, he'll have plenty of time tonight to watch "The Dark Knight," which my friends in D.C. also will be seeing while I'm in the air.

I hate to miss out.

My USA 3000 flight from Melbourne to Baltimore-Washington is the last of the day for this small airport, so the population here in the terminal is rather scarce as I type. I'm about an hour away from liftoff at 8:30 p.m.

This is only the third flight of my knowing life (I took one as an infant, but I can't remember it.) But this place makes me feel like a veteran flier.

Many of my fellow passengers are senior citizens who, no doubt, have flown before but can't remember how it's done. My trip through security was five minutes only because the old man in front of me tried to sneak a 2 million-ounce bottle of sunscreen in his carry-on. Even I know better than that.

But the TSA had no problem with my video camera, digital SLR camera, point-and-shoot camera and Mac, so I breezed through. They did check my boarding pass five times, though, four more than the people at Orlando International Airport.

Two minutes until boarding now, and the children - the few who are here - are excited.

Me, too.