Earlier in the week, a Jetblue flight delay caused us to miss our flight to Ecuador. Due to this, we got stuck in Florida.
While this was a major pain and caused us to miss a day of our trip, one positive came out of this experience!
There was a variety of fast food options close to our hotel including McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell. A healthier option was also close by, Whole Foods…
In the morning, Kim and I decided to head over to Whole Foods to see what we could find for breakfast. In the end, decided to grab some snacks to hold us over until lunch.
When we left Whole Foods, a very interesting sign caught my eye as we were crossing the street. A rare, single arch McDonald’s sign was sitting in front of the McD’s we had almost stopped at the night before.
(Back in June, I wrote about one of the last original single arch McDonald’s signs in NJ.)
We had to take a detour to McD’s to check out this rare sign.
This sign was pretty amazing but also very different than the other single arch McDonald’s sign in New Jersey.
This one featured Speedee, the old McD’s mascot holding a sign with the Golden Arches. It also appeared to be in great condition so I assumed it had been restored.
We took a walk around both sides of the sign. Yes, it’s double sided!
This seemed to be a really cool find! I guess this could also count as sightseeing for our short detour to Fort Lauderdale!
I wondered if this was an original single arch McDonald’s sign. When we got back to the hotel, I did a little research online. This location did not come up in any articles written about original McD’s golden arches signs.
In the end, I don’t know if this is an original or replica single arch McDonald’s sign. Regardless, it was still pretty awesome to see in person!
If you’re interested in checking out this single arch McD’s sign, it’s located at 1630 S Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Check out my McDonald’s Reviews:
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McDonald’s McMansions in the United States
Daniel & Patrick- Thanks for letting me know!
There is another at the Sunrise Blvd location just West of the intersection of US 1
There are at least two of the retro signs in Fort Lauderdale. One on S Federal and the other on E Sunrise. Yes they reproductions of the originals and both erected 15-20 years ago when the original buildings were demolished and rebuilt.
Mark- Thanks for that info. And yes, still really cool! 🙂
DamninMCI- I’ve read that some old signs were updated to state billions sold, maybe that’s not true… I thought the fact that Speedee was holding a sign with the Golden Arches led me to believe it might not be an original. I know about the one in Winter Haven from articles regarding original single arch signs. Those articles claim that 7-12 originals exist but it’s also possible there are others out there which might also be the real deal. Regardless, I’d love to see these retro signs become more common. They’re fun to come across!
These are unusual but not that rare in my travels. The “Billions and Billions” sold part of the sign tells you it’s a reproduction. McDonald’s went to that slogan on most signs in about 1993. These retro signs have popped up in recent years. There is a true original single arch in Winter Haven Florida however. There are less than 10 original signs around the country.
I live near that McDonalds. That sign was put up when they replaced the previous building about 15 years ago. I don’t believe it is a restored sign, I’m pretty sure it was a new nostalgic type sign at that time. Still cool though.