Old Addresses, New Operators: Driving Route 66 East from Timber Sky This Fall

Timber Sky sits off Route 66 between Flagstaff Ranch Road and Woody Mountain Road. That puts it at the western edge of what the City of Flagstaff counts as its Route 66, which the city's project page describes as more than 15 miles, running from the Walnut Canyon exit on the east to Flagstaff Ranch Road on the west. Every stop in the centennial year's Route 66 news lies east of that starting point.

The centennial celebration on June 6 is over. What it left behind is a run of street numbers, and reading them in order from downtown out to the east side shows a pattern. Most of what changed on Route 66 in the past year happened inside buildings that were already there.

Five stops, in address order

Three of the five are older buildings brought back into use. One is a new business on a stretch of road that has carried travelers for a century. One is a landmark waiting for someone to take it on. Each one shows a different way of keeping a Route 66 address alive.

The McMillan Building took on a second life by absorbing its neighbor

Alpine Pizza first opened in 1973 and closed in 2023. Scottsdale-based Genuine Concepts brought it back in mid-December 2025, and the way it did so changed the building. The McMillan Bar & Kitchen had operated for 12 years on the Route 66 side of the McMillan Building, which was constructed in 1887 and is considered the oldest standing building in downtown Flagstaff. Genuine cut a walkway through the shared wall and folded the two into one restaurant. Under the new arrangement the combined space holds 4,700 square feet under roof plus a new 1,800-square-foot patio on the west side.

Tucker Woodbury, a co-founder of Genuine Concepts, told Flagstaff Business News about the address:

"You can't have a cooler address than 2 W. Route 66."

The McMillan's staff and many of its signature cocktails moved over to Alpine, so a bar that had closed its doors kept its bartenders. The pizza side also brought a partner from Sedona, Greg Ziegler of Hideaway House, who has been making pies for 40 years. For a Saturday, Alpine offers by-the-slice service, arcade games and a backyard patio.

Two more addresses and a walking tour

As Flagstaff Business News reported in May, the Sweet Shoppe Candy Store moved from downtown to 102 E Route 66 at the corner of San Francisco Street. The space was the Corner Tavern, and the two large signs that hang along Route 66 stayed. The shop replaced the word "tavern" with "candy" in neon. It also added a 1950s-style soda fountain counter for shakes and malts. The basement means the gelato should no longer run out on busy weekends.

At 922 E Route 66, the Whispering Winds Motor Hotel came out of a renovation that started slowly during the COVID pandemic. Its 1960s bubblegum pink and electric turquoise are back, and the original neon sign was restored with money from the City of Flagstaff's Historic Sign and Facade Grant Program. The pool now sits behind a white brick wall that screens it from passing traffic. Owner Ascend Capital Management said it planned to reopen the property in May, so confirm current availability with the hotel directly before sending guests its way.

The Route 66 Centennial Walking Tour Flagstaff, from Freaky Foot Tours, offers another way to explore Route 66 on foot. It is a 1.2-mile, two-hour route funded by a grant from the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona. It traces roughly two-thirds of the highway's original path through town, which is a useful reminder that the road was rerouted long before anyone started counting street numbers.

The one address that is new construction

PuttTek Flagstaff, at 3126 E Route 66, is the outlier in the table. The 18-hole putting course covers 466 feet, plays to a par of 44, and takes most groups 45 minutes to an hour. Course lighting and patio heaters keep the greens open after dark, and the turf is all-weather, so the schedule does not have to end with the season. It is the 100th course PuttTek has built and the first it owns and operates commercially.

FryMex is the kitchen. Its frybread tacos, Lumberjax burritos and frybread desserts come out of the PuttTek clubhouse, which the Arizona Daily Sun reports is FryMex's first permanent location. The Arizona Daily Sun reported PuttTek's official opening on May 8, though PuttTek was already listed as open in late 2025, so the venue has been running a while. It suits an evening that starts with dinner and ends with a round, or the reverse.

The address still waiting

The Museum Club at 3404 E Route 66 has been on the road since 1931. Known to locals as the Zoo, it closed after Halloween night in 2025. Five different tenants had operated the bar over the previous 23 years, with a few closures along the way. The Zanzucchi family, which bought the club in 1978 and ran it until 2002, listed the 1.4-acre property in June 2025. By November the asking price had come down to $2.2 million, and the listing then included the trade name, furniture and fixtures, historic signage and the liquor license.

As of AZFamily's May 2026 report, the family was still hoping a buyer would keep the history alive. Martin Zanzucchi said they would not object to a wedding venue or an actual museum, as long as the building's history is respected. The club's own website still lists it as closed and for sale. The latest reporting available shows no buyer announced, so anyone planning a country dancing night should check before driving out.

Of the five stops, this is the only one where the outcome is still open, and it sits at the far east end of a drive that starts at Timber Sky.

Stargazing at the start of October

The Flagstaff Star Party ran Oct. 1 to 3, from 6 to 10 p.m. each night, at Buffalo Park on North Gemini Road, and admission was free. The Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition presented it. The Festival of Science ran Sept. 25 through Oct. 4, so the first days of October were busy with programming that had nothing to do with Route 66.

A workable Saturday runs east down the road in the order of the table. Start with a slice at Alpine, pick up something from the Sweet Shoppe's soda fountain, and end the afternoon with frybread tacos and a round at PuttTek. The order also happens to follow the street numbers upward.

If a weekend on the Mother Road raises questions about how Timber Sky's phases are progressing or what a home near this end of Route 66 might be worth, Blake Cundick is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.