Day 15. Washington DC: Quick Way Hibachi. Library of Congress. Folger Shakespeare Library. [HI Washington DC]
Despite waking up at 9 am to my alarm, I felt very tired and spontaneously decided to sleep in. Forget breakfast, my body needed rest. So I finally got up at 11 am and biked in the city.
Shared Bike
The bike service was Capital Bikeshare, and I bought a 24-hour pass of $8.00 (unlimited 30-minute rides). Single ride cost $2.00 (and I later discovered that with the app, the first ride is free). Since I lost my towel two days ago, I was still in need of one. My first stop was Walmart. Then I got my daily caffeine fix at the Starbucks next door.
As I was leaving with my coffee, I couldn’t bike with a hot drink in hand in downtown DC, so I walked. I wasn’t even ten steps away from Starbucks when I saw this Japanese eatery Quick Way Hibachi. It looked good and inexpensive, so I gave up walking immediately for lunch. Or breakfast, whatever you call it when it was my first meal at 12:30 pm.
I got a chicken fried rice bento for $9.35 (excluding taxes), and expected it to be a normal-sized bento. Nope. It was huge. No wonder most people just ordered hibachi, and not the whole bento. There was too much sauce, but very delicious anyway.
Bookish Life
Of course I had finished my coffee by now, so I biked to Library of Congress. Library of Congress has the most books of all U.S. libraries, and the interior is quite lavish. I was only in Thomas Jefferson Building, and there were a few exhibitions going on, including one on baseball and another of Gershwin brothers.
Exterior of Library of Congress. 
Interior of Library of Congress.
Though visitors were not allowed to actually be in the reading room, we could get a glimpse of the grand room from a balcony. Also, Gutenberg Bible was on display, too. Overall, it was a nice visit if you have time to spare, but I wouldn’t say it’s a must visit.
There was a connecting tunnel to U.S. Capitol and in order to enter the building, one has to comply with strict security rules. I left for U.S. Capitol a little after 3 pm, and after entry, I realised that visitors are probably not allowed to roam free (except for the exhibition hall) and have to go on a guided tour. I was worried if I signed up for one, I would never make it to Folger Shakespeare Library before it closed. So I set off for Folger.
And let us just say I was deeply disappointed.
Biking Gone Wrong
There are many memorials around the area, including Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson, Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., and I wanted to visit them all. I got on a bike again, wanting to start with Jefferson. Since I need to park every 30 minutes to avoid extra fee, I did and the docks near Washington Memorial was out of order, meaning that after returning the bike, I cannot borrow another one. I ended up trying to walk there but couldn’t find a pedestrian path. By then, it was getting dark and I decided to get back to my hostel.
Summary
Before reaching my hostel, I went for a quick shopping on a nearby block. It has been a while to do something not so touristy. For the rest of the night, I mostly packed as I would fly away the next morning.
