41The Wall That Swears It's Nothing

On the black steel upper deck of Hotel Herringbone — the shipping-container boutique hotel whose other wall you'll meet at the next stop — somebody painted an enormous, fully scannable QR code with a smiley face in the middle and a promise underneath: NOTHING TO SEE HERE. Then, in small handwritten cursive, one more word: seriously.

This is, of course, the oldest trick in the book. Nothing makes a human being reach for a phone faster than a wall telling them not to bother. The smiley's eyes are X's, which is how the wall lets you know it has watched this happen hundreds of times and made peace with it. What does it link to? That's between you and the wall — a mural with a punchline you have to scan to earn. Meanwhile the brick below refuses to play along: white wildflowers climb the whole base of the building, being extravagantly, unapologetically something.