TulaneLSU's Top 10 Clearly Canadian flavors

Dear Friends,

In the late 90s, I was on track to become an Olympic volleyball player until an injury on Dumaine Street robbed us all of that glory. One of the places I so enjoyed playing volleyball before that fateful afternoon on Dumaine was at the old Canal Street Presbyterian Church. It was in their indoor old wood floored court, where we often had to fend off basketball players who wanted to steal our court, that I first learned to spike.

On water breaks, we would line up to sip that delicious chilled tap water at one of the fountains downstairs. Above the one we most often used hung a wooden sign that read, “He who drinks this water shall thirst again, but he drinks the water I give will never thirst.”

July 4, 1991 will forever hold a deep place in my heart. It was on that day that Uncle and I summited Mount Mitchell for the first time. Uncle is quite an accomplished climber and for him, Mount Mitchell was little more than a light walk. But for me, someone who had never been above a few thousand feet, a 6600 foot summit was touching the heavens.

The day started off in Asheville, at one of the family’s favorite resort hotels, The Grove Park Inn. This was a decade before the least attractive of all expansions at that great hotel. We had rooms in the original lodge and Uncle shook me around 4 AM. I had never before been woken that early. “TulaneLSU, it is time to get up.”

Within a half hour, we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the most scenic routes east of the Mississippi. I asked if we could stop at several of the overlooks along the way, but Uncle stared ahead, “We have a goal today and no time for side trips.” Maybe 90 minutes later, we arrived at a little river they call the South Toe. The only river I knew before then was the Mississippi, so to call this a river seemed a bit of an exaggeration.

The hike to a seven year old who had not done any real hiking previously was tough. I was a budding volleyball prodigy, but volleyball does not teach stamina. Many times I asked Uncle if we could stop for a water break or just a break in what felt like a never ending trek through the wilderness.

“We rest when we get to the top.” Uncle pushed onward as I struggled to keep pace.

Three or four hours later, we had arrived at the top. It was touristy and even had a parking lot. There were many people up there, including obese people whom I could not imagine hiked as we did.

Uncle had prepared a lunch for us consisting of sandwiches, blueberries, an apple, Zapp’s chips and several bottles of water.

“Those bottles – they are so beautiful. What is in them?” I pointed at the teardrop shaped clear to celeste blue glass bottles that had imprinted on the front a pretty blackberry.

“Clearly Canadian. It’s flavored water. Taste it. I think you will like it.”


Clearly Canadian’s four OG flavors from the late 80s





And I did. It was a rush of carbonation, flavor and sugar. It was just what my parched body needed, perking me up at once. “Wow, that was delicious! Can I have another?”

Thankfully, Uncle had brought four and I finished off three of them. Uncle later joked on our way down, as I would not stop talking about Clearly Canadian, "Nothing says the Fourth of July like Canadian water."

Clearly Canadian became my second favorite drink, just behind N.O. Sewage and Water Board tap water. When I told Ms. Mae how much I enjoyed the water, she was sure to always have some bottles for me.

By the late 90’s, though, the bottles became more and more scarce on our shelves. Ms. Mae could not find them. I could not find them. And I assumed for the next two decades that Clearly Canadian had gone the way of Crystal Pepsi, Squeezit, and Fruitopia.

By chance, on our trip here the past week, our cousin, who must have remembered the story I just told you, was so thoughtful as to buy me a bottle. I cannot tell you the excitement on my face and the joy in my heart when I saw that bottle of mountain blackberry.

She told me she had gotten it at Winn Dixie, so yesterday I plundered Winn Dixie and got multiple flavors to try every one. Winn Dixie had four flavors, each costing $2.79. Later in the day, I also discovered that a World Market had Clearly Canadian. They carried nine flavors, and charged $2.99 per bottle. While expensive for 11 ounces of water, if you search online, these prices are cheaper than Ebay, Amazon, and Walmart.



As we imbibe our waters and celebrate the nation we have, let us always remember that whatever good in this world we experience, whether justice, freedom, love, or water, there awaits a greater version of each of these for us in heaven. The gifts to come are sweeter than nectar, and better yet, they are everlasting. Once we taste of them, we shall thirst never again. Let us sip from the great well of Living Waters, that of Christ our Lord.