Houston Music Experience: Day 3 - Camila and Khadijah

Out and About in Houston!

 

On day 3 of our music experience we began our day by learning about the Jazz Crusaders. The Jazz Crusaders were based around the mid-’50s and started in Houston and then moved to Los Angeles. After learning about the Jazz Crusaders we headed down to the record shop called Cactus Music. When we arrived at the record shop, one of the owners explained to our group the history of the record shop. For about an hour students were free to look around and buy items at the record shop! After we browsed for a while, some of us bought vinyls, CDs, or posters and we all grouped and left the first record shop. 

We got on the bus and began driving off to lunch, which we had come to a consensus to be Frenchie’s Chicken. On the drive there, Mr. Dorsey pointed out several prominent locations in the Third Ward, including Texas Southern University where the Jazz Crusaders had originally met, and the University of Houston campus. When we got to the restaurant, we grouped and went in to order. Mr. Dorsey explained that this restaurant had Creole influences and was started by a man who moved to Houston from New Orleans. The menu offered various fried chicken, fish, shrimp, and veggie meals. We ordered one by one and sat down to eat. The food was delicious and very hearty, and by the time we filed out into the bus, we were nearly full. 

 

Mr. Dorsey had a surprise for us, and he drove us down for dessert at his friend’s dessert shop. We entered the small store and saw the countless flavors of cupcakes, cookies, and brownies set up and labeled all around the room. We picked out our dessert of choice, and the owner was very friendly and packaged our sweets in personalized bags. We chowed down in the bus on the way to the second record store, and our last destination. Soundwaves Record Shop was a little bigger and broader store in terms of its merchandise, offering various surf and outdoor products as well as music. 

We browsed for a bit, and many of us purchased vinyls and CDs, as the prices here were also a little lower than at Cactus. This was the final location on our agenda, and by around 2:10 we were driving back to the school. We regrouped in the classroom and spent the rest of the day mainly just listening to a jazz concert Mr. Dorsey put on and doing some rewinding activities. Overall, this was a pretty great experience of a day, and we learned a lot and had plenty of fun out and about in Houston!