Was Jesus Born in a Stable?

I'll state my thesis right away, rather than cover myself with qualifications first (my usual tendency).

If we go only by what we have in the Canonical Gospels, it may be that Christ was actually *born* in a more humble place than a stable, that is, maybe by the side of the road.

Not that I *know* (assuming the accuracy of Matthew & Luke) He was born there. But (based on the same authority) we don't know He was actually born IN a stable either.

I'm using "stable" to mean any place where animals would be housed, whether a cave, the wooden shed we often picture (possibly with an open front suitable for photo-ops) or the lower portion of a house (possibly belonging to one of Joseph's relatives. Were there none living there? Did they all reject him because of Mary?).

Despite songs such as "Go Tell It on the Mountain", "Mary's Boy Child" and "Jesus Freak", I'm reasonably (but not totally) certain that Mary did not crawl into the manger to give birth, resulting in Jesus being born IN a manger.

(Sometimes I sub "near a manger" when I'm able to abide my own precise personality.)

Luke says that she "gave birth to...a son...and placed him in a manger...." (2:7).

FWIW the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem has a spot (marked by Joseph with an X?) where the birth is commemorated and some distance away (though I forget how much) is a cave with two alcoves and stone troughs commemorated as the stable.