Once upon a time, in the land known as Indiana, there was a man who had a dream. A dream of building a McDonald's location unlike any other. One that would draw visitors from far and wide to marvel at its splendor. A location fit for, dare I say, a burger king and his dairy queen. One that pushed aside the aesthetic normally attributed to most McDonald's locations and instead borrowed heavily from — 12th Century architecture. For you see, what this man built was a castle.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed recently when it popped in one of those pages it suggests based on other interests you have and pages you've visited. I don't remember the name of the page, but the picture it shared stuck with me. The picture was of a building in Goshen, Indiana (in the northeastern part of the state) that looked just like a castle you've seen in movies or TV shows about the Middle Ages, except there was no drawbridge, no moat surrounding it, or armed knights patrolling around the top keeping an eye out for potential invaders. Instead, it had the famous golden arches on one of the towers and "McDonald's" on the side.

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Since I'm typically leery about how much truth there is to anything posted online, I searched "McDonald's Goshen, Indiana" on Google Maps, switched to street view, and lo and behold there it was. The exact same castle.

The Traveling Buddy via YouTube
The Traveling Buddy via YouTube
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If you live around Goshen or the northern part of the state, chances are you're familiar with the castle. If you live in southern Indiana like I do, this may be the first time you've heard of it. As it turns out, it's been around since the summer of 2014 and according to a 2014 article by Sam Householder of The Goshen News, the castle is more than just a place to stop by and grab a quarter-pounder with cheese and an order of those classic french fries. This particular McDonald's location is part of the medieval-themed Gallop Truck Stop that sits just north of Goshen at the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and State Highway 15 between Middlebury and Elkhart. It's the brainchild of Harpreet "Monte" Singh who told Householder he was "always fascinated by the regal-looking buildings," and that he simply wanted to do something new. I'd say mission accomplished sir.

In addition to the McDonald's location, it is also home to a Subway location. There are nearly 25 gas pumps outside and 23,000 square feet of space on the inside. Chuck Lofton of WTHR-TV in Indianapolis stumbled upon it back in 2019 and wrote an article about what he saw on their website. He says the inside features pictures of past Kentucky Derby winners for some reason, along with a whole wall of replica weapons from the Middle Ages.

The YouTube channel, The Traveling Buddy, stopped by back in 2020 to take a look around.

While it's not quite at Buc-ee's level, it appears to be a unique place and definitely worth stopping by if you happen to be in the area.

[Sources: The Goshen News / WTHR-TV / The Traveling Buddy on YouTube]

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