How do you know that Alaska is a magical place? Because this is where Santa lives, Beeyotch!

So letters sent to the roly-poly icon always find their way to the small town of North Pole deep in Alaska's interior, including those simply addressed to Santa. Last year 120,000 letters arrived from 26 countries, not counting the thousands with no return address. Those that do have return addresses usually get a reply and a North Pole postmark in a holiday effort that has delighted children all over the world for more than five decades.

Letters trickle in year round at the community of 1,600, where light poles are curved and striped like candy canes and streets have names like Santa Claus Lane and Kris Kringle Drive. Then, around Thanksgiving, they start pouring in by the thousands each day as Christmas approaches. Even stampless letters get through, a rare exception for the U.S. Postal Service.

"This is special because it has Santa's name on it," said Debra Cornelius, a supervisor at the main post office in the nearby city of Fairbanks. This is where the Santa letters are processed during the holiday rush.

I am still unconvinced about that God fellow, but Santa is clearly the real deal.

Besides I saw him riding his bike down the street just the other day. And I had not even been drinking!