Ari Bass was one of many L.A. dads who spent a couple weeks in August driving a van on a family vacation. But he might have been the only one doing it while avoiding land mines in the Balkans.
Bass, 44, a longtime investment banker and managing principal of SPB Partners in Santa Monica, decided to bring his wife, Heather, and their three daughters as well as his mother and Heather’s parents to Croatia. Bass’ archaeologist brother, Bryon, had bought a house on the island of Korcula several years ago.
The Bass party rented an Opel minivan in the Croatian capital of Zagreb and made its way to the island. But the family decided to stop along the way to see the waterfalls of Plitvice Lakes National Park. Little did they realize they’d missed a turn off the highway.
“The road went down to two lanes and then it became a dirt road,” Ari Bass said. “I wasn’t worried because we were still on GPS. Then we saw a sign that had a skull and crossbones on it that said ‘minas’ (mines). We started passing these signs every 50 yards.”
Luckily, the group eventually found a back entrance to the park.
“We got to a T in the road with a handwritten sign that that said ‘Plitvice.’ It eventually became an asphalt road that took us right to the park,” he said.
And the spectacular falls made it worth the detour.
“It was stunning,” he said.
Making Federal Case of It
Speaking of summer vacations, Andrew Apfelberg’s kids thought the highlight at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park was the collection of stuffed bears. But Apfelberg, a partner at Century City law firm Greenberg Glusker, was wowed by the resort’s VIP guests.
Apfelberg and family were vacationing in Jackson Hole, Wyo., last month when they headed to the lodge for dinner after a day of hiking.
“We got there and there were all these Secret Service guys,” said Apfelberg, 42. “We’re all muddy and my kids are being rambunctious, and then Janet Yellen comes cruising by.”
Yes, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Apfelberg didn’t realize he had booked his vacation the same time the lodge was hosting the famous Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, which draws central bankers, academics and economists.
And Apfelberg got to see Yellen in action.
Protesters, all wearing T-shirts that asked “What Recovery?”, had gathered on the lodge’s patio. After they were interviewed by Bloomberg reporters, Yellen approached.
“She walked right up to them and said, ‘I listened to what you were saying to Bloomberg, and you’re right – we need to do more on jobs,’” he recalled. “She totally disarmed them. It was a great lesson in leadership. These people were obviously critical of her, but she just took it head-on.”
Meanwhile, his kids, ages 4 and 8, were busy running around and asking Secret Service agents about the hotel’s taxidermy collection.
“There were all these stuffed bears at the lodge, and one of my kids went up to a Secret Service agent asking, ‘Is that thing real?’” Apfelberg said. “The agent thought he was talking about his gun.”
Staff reporters Matt Pressberg and James Rufus Koren contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
