Elite leftists in enclaves on either coast like to believe they’re far more in tune with European sophisticates than Americans living in the Heartland.
But when a bunch of Europeans actually had the chance to explore what makes this country great, the New York Times was flabbergasted to learn what those tourists were actually drawn to.
The Daily Caller provided this report:
In the article headlined (contemptuously), “World Cup Fans in the U.S. Are Sightseeing at … Buc-ee’s and Bass Pro Shops?”, New York Times reporter Melinda Delkic interviewed tourists on why they were going to such mundane places.
ADVERTISEMENTOne European said of Bass Pro Shops, “It’s just unbelievable. It’s like a theme park and a museum all wrapped into, you know, a big retail store.”
Amen.
A Swedish woman said of America’s fire trucks, “They’re shiny, they look really cool — just like in the movies.”
They loved Buc-ee’s gas stations.
“It is very bright and very dazzling,” one said.
The European love-fest for all things American spread across social media:
The globalist agenda is crumbling, the World Cup is giving Europeans a real opportunity to see witness America for themselves, and they’re loving it. pic.twitter.com/tELZekoieZ
— Right Side And Free (@rightsidefreee) June 18, 2026
Europeans coming to America for the World Cup are finding out that everything they're being told about this country is completely false! pic.twitter.com/iZFGZw8Myl
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) June 19, 2026
Europeans visiting the USA for the World Cup are enjoying the experience 😭 pic.twitter.com/uAxspW6Dwm
— kira 👾 (@kirawontmiss) June 18, 2026
Here’s more from Fox News’s David Marcus:
Perhaps most American of all is the fact that the majority of these travel accounts on social media are road trips of Europeans, who are used to biking everywhere with a baguette under their arm. Here, they are even posting maps, covering hundreds of miles like latter-day Lewis and Clarks.
As the great American novelist Jack Kerouac understood, driving is the only way to truly understand America, to find its secrets, its nooks, crannies and roadside gems. You can’t fly there and you can’t take a train. You have to get behind the wheel and hit the road.
What European travelers are really experiencing is the freedom of driving, and how essential it is to the whole mythology of modern America. The ability to chart your own course vs. highly efficient rail systems that guide not just your travel, but your life.
You want to drive to Waffle House at 1 a.m.? Knock yourself out. You want to buy a rifle somewhere between Buc-ee’s and Barstow? You can.
America isn’t the only country where you can take a road trip, but it is the only country that is essentially founded on the practice. America, as Kerouac knew, is its roads, and the little towns and people that thrive along them.
And here’s some additional commentary:
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