I heard from one of my in-the-know friends yesterday, that just prior to the Christmas holidays, the 2 smoke boats in Maastricht, namely Mississippi and Smokey Boot and one other coffeeshop, he couldnt remember the name of, were closed down; at least temporarily; he mentioned the next 2 months, at least. The reason being is that the police visited the coffeeshops and there were under 18 year olds smokin' in the 3 shops. IMO, it's sad to hear about ANY coffeeshop closures. Peace.

I always found those boats nothing more than a novelty -- nothing 'gezellig' about them, they just seemed to be aimed at younger folks, particularly for big weekend parties. Mississippi looked like it could hold a couple of hundred people.

Wall Street was one of the other shops that has closed.

I much prefer places like Heaven 69 (the best, imo) and Maxcy's.



fair enough; it's down to the owners to be responsible for this: they didn't have to lose their licenses on this account.

despite Maastricht's distance from Amsterdam, I think it is useful to pay attention to policies there because it also has a large base of coffeeshops that rely heavily on (cross-border) tourist trade. in this case it sounds like the owners were either irresponsbile, ignorant, or willfully turning a blind eye.

-paniked

I second your opinion on the boats....I always avoided them.Wall Street also seemed to cater to the "younger" crowd.For my money I prefer Maxceys with Heaven 69 a close second.In the past when I was hanging directly across the border in Belgium I would on ocassion hear a story about police busting someone as they drove from Maastricht into Belgium so I always made it a point to make a day of it and ride my bike into Maastricht and back with several "quiet time" stops along the way....

...and they're open again -- Mississippi and Kosbor at least

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5645 ... terug.html

basically the judge ruled that the mayor closed them too quickly, so they can stay open for at least another 6 weeks while their appeals against the closures are heard. They were both accused of selling to underage patrons.

-paniked

Smokys is open as I was allowed on board just this afternoon. Alas the hash mateys! I was asked to show my passport before being granted entry as proof of age, which is a good thing I suppose.

Busta

Will in in Maastricht in 2 1/2 weeks. Please give a review of the coffeeshops you stopped at while in Masstricht, like where is the best place to find a vaporizer. Also if you would mention a nice place to get a good meal.

Any good locations to just girl watch?

Have a great time in Maastricht
Gilby

Gilby,

Welcome to another Hoosier! PM me with your contact info...meet up in Broad Ripple for a beer and we can chat. I spent some time in Maastricht this spring.

I presume you are getting there by train...

1) stop at the VVV and purchase one of the cheap maps ( I tell everyone this...)
2) walk across the river ... follow the crowds
3) find the square ... not hard to miss
4) pick anyone of the bars/cafes/etc along there and sit, relax and watch ton's of beauty walk by.

No RLD in Maastricht but there are some Prive's (or so I'm told). I found quite a few coffeeshops while just wandering around the city. This last trip I didn't partake hardly at all so I can't give you a review of one over another.

I had a great meal at the "Fat Dragon" ... I think that was the name of it. Could one of the fluent Dutch speakers correct this: in Dutch I think it's Dikke Dragon. As well as several good meals just picking one of the cafes around the square. ...but then again even a bad meal is great when you are on vacation!!

later,
eric

Gentlemen,

in case it is of any use to you, I have just reposted my Oct 2002 report which was wiped in the cull of posts earlier this year:

http://www.ignatzmice.com/WWWBoard/PHPB ... hp?p=61276

geniet ervan,
-paniked

was in maastricht last week and visited the mississippi boat, a floating coffeeshop, quite different and new, would be nicer if they had a open deck atop.

one thing i saw interesting was i got ID'd at the door and also they have little cleavers/chopping boards for the weed! =)