I'm Bringing Nativity Back (Yeah)

You can call it the People's Republic of Santa Monica, but you can't call it a land of godless heathens. While Walmart tries to pick a slogan and Larry the Cable Guy laments PC holidays, Santa Monica has no problem setting up a Christmas nativity scene in Palisades Park (facing Ocean Avenue near Arizona). They even bag the parking meters so cars won't obstruct the view.

Yes, political correctness got in the way for a couple years, but this has been a tradition since 1953. Apparently the city got around the ACLU by making it a free speech zone and allowing churches and the local police (off duty, of course) to set up the scenes. You rarely hear about it in the local media, but you can read up on this Christmas Story here, and see a complete photo essay after the jump. The only drawback? Chainlink fences, presumably in place to keep people from getting too cozy with the Virgin Mary. If you want a better look, you'll have to visit for yourself.