July 18: Museum of Sex

Yes. There is a museum devoted to sex in New York. Historical and art museums are always advertised. Why had I never heard of this one?

Facade of the museum

In the morning, the bulk of my family flew out to Los Angeles, so my aunt and I were left behind.

Prior to the museum, we went to eat at Cafe 28 on 5th and 28th.

Had some tea and sushi to start the day:

Then we went to Starbucks.

Stepping out of Starbucks or any other air conditioned building and into NYC in the summertime was like walking into a heat wave. There must have a been a 20- to 30-degree difference in temperature.

Everyone really walks around Manhattan everywhere like it’s portrayed in the movies.

My initial impression upon entering the Museum of Sex was that it resembled a porn shop (but I suppose that should’ve been expected, given the type of museum it was).

(Here’s a shoe that was on sale at the entrance.)

There are three floors of exhibits:

Porn industry

These were rubber molds that received a lot of attention from visitors. Many people came up to touch them and take photographs.
Sexual photos & visuals
Animals and sex

Amazon River Dolphin Blowhole Sex

Deer Threesome

Pandas

Some other topics of focus on the third floor included:
– Mallard duck necrophilia
– Animal masturbation
– Animal group sex
– Homosexual animals

The rest of day was a public transit adventure. My aunt and I hopped onto the subway after the museum and witnessed a kid dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” for money. It was totally new to me, because I’ve never encountered anything like that in Los Angeles.

We got off the subway to rain, thunder and lightning. When it rains there, it really pours. It was too intense so we waited on Broadway between 28th and 29th underneath some tarp and poles. A bunch of people were huddled under the tarp, and some guy eventually walked up to everyone selling umbrellas for $3.

The thunder was so strung that I could feel it rumbling beneath my feet as it roared in the sky.

Several minutes later, it started hailing! Maybe it’s not a big deal, but that was the first time I’d ever experienced it. The hail stones were like lumps of ice!

My aunt and I decided to suck it up and walk through the rain once the hail had stopped. We got an umbrella from one of the guys walking around, and charged through the swarm of people who also decided to face the rain.

We checked in at Broadway Hostel, which was also the first time I’d stayed at one. It wasn’t too shabby. It really seemed like a communal frat house to me. The beds weren’t as firm as the ones at hotels, and we had to share the bathroom with everyone on our floor/section of the floor. But who cares when you’re saving money on accommodations?

Had dinner at Broadway Pizza, and wrapped up the day 🙂

Museum of Sex
233 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10016

(Side note: The museum did not have a tidy bathroom. It’s also a private museum, so it’s smaller than the popular Museum of Natural History, MoMA, and others. It’s not as impressive compared to the bigger ones, and I wouldn’t say it was exactly worth the entrance fee, but it was something different.)