2 Best Sights in North-Central Arizona, Arizona

Storied Route 66 runs right through the heart of downtown Flagstaff. The late Victorian, Tudor Revival, and early Art Deco architecture in this district recalls the town's heyday as a logging and railroad center. The Santa Fe Depot now houses the visitor center. The 1927 Hotel Monte Vista, built after a community drive raised $200,000 in 60 days, is one of the Art Deco highlights of the district; today it houses a restaurant, live music venue, and a combination coffeehouse and cocktail bar. Across the street, the 1888 Babbitt Brothers Building was constructed as a building-supply store and then turned into a department store by David Babbitt, the mastermind of the Babbitt empire. (The Babbitts are one of Flagstaff's wealthiest founding families.) The Weatherford Hotel, built in 1900, hosted many celebrities; Western author Zane Grey wrote The Call of the Canyon here. Most of the area's first businesses were saloons catering to railroad construction workers, which was the case with the 1888 Vail Building. Nowadays, downtown is a bustling dining and retail district, with restaurants, bakeries, and alluring shops. Across the railroad tracks, the revitalized Southside is home to popular eateries and craft breweries.

Twenty saloons and bordellos once lined this stretch of Montezuma Street, along the west side of Courthouse Plaza. Social activity is more subdued these days, although live music pulses every evening, and the buildings have been beautifully restored. The historical bars provide an escape from the street's many boutiques.