Philly News Briefs: 01/19/17

1.) A Philadelphia-area bakery has found itself being inundated with complaints after displaying cakes in the shape of red and white hats with the words “Make America Great Again” on them. The hat cakes – and the logo itself – are obviously meant to celebrate Donald Trump, whose inauguration as President of the United States is tomorrow. Deneen Ciancaglini, senior cake decorator for Traub’s Bakery, insists that she was not trying to make a political statement in the shape of a hat. She explained to NBC10 that the bakery makes special cakes for a number of events, including holidays and unusual occurrences like the Pope’s visit. Still, that hasn’t stopped over a thousand people from taking to the Traub’s Facebook page to complain about the hat cakes.

These hat cakes from Traub’s Bakery created a stir on Facebook.

2.) It’s no surprise that Philadelphia is a popular wedding destination, so naturally Brides magazine recently published a story on 5 Fun Activities for Your Philadelphia Wedding Guests. The piece praised Philadelphia’s variety of things to do, and broke wedding weekend activities down into a quintet of subheadings. There were sporting events, with the mention that all three of Philly’s sporting arenas are conveniently in the same area. The Reading Terminal Market got its own mention as a foodie paradise, with special shout-outs to a number of vendors. The Philadelphia Museum of Art and its famous “Rocky steps” was listed, as well as the city’s numerous historical attractions, from the Liberty Bell to Independence Hall. Final on the list was the Philadelphia Zoo, where wedding “party animals” can come face-to-face with over a dozen endangered species.

3.) Mery Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, told CBS3 that 2016 was a banner year for Philadelphia tourism. Recently-collected data shows that the City of Brotherly Love welcomed over 41 million visitors last year. Of the year’s 53 Saturday nights, 37 of them had at least 90 percent hotel occupancy, not including special events. Levitz said that Philly’s biggest draws continue to be food and history. The greatest majority of out-of-town visitors came to Philadelphia from New York, apparently.