Photo Essay: Little. Yellow. Different. Better: Seeing San Francisco via GoCar.

Longtime San Francisco residents will scoff initially at this endorsement but the value of a day spent in a GoCar cannot be underestimated. Add a few friends and you've got yourself a rolling entourage of geekdom that will provide a view of the city so unique, it will transform locals into tourists and make them grateful to be so.

The trick here, is to turn off, deny, decline and ignore any of the automated tour that GoCar provides (it's easy to do). They want to send you on a pre-programmed, GPS guided tour with a terrifying robotic-voiced navigation. You want nothing to do with that. The magic of GoCar-ing comes in exploring the city on your own from 12 inches off the ground. Be free. Roam. Graze. The game changes from the lowered vantage point of your yellow cockpit. The oversized helmet creates a metamorphosis in its wearer to no longer care about the awkward glances or the angry stares. Parking problems disappear. Rules of the road fade away. Children smile and dance in the streets.

Be sure to see some of the city's main attractions, you're playing tourist after all. One way to achieve this is a GoCar Scavenger Hunt. Set up checkpoints, make it creative and push the envelope of what you think can and cannot be done with a GoCar. Surprise yourself. The the best experiences come from getting creative. Try a drive-thru. Valet park. Crash a wedding. Pick up a friend...or better yet, a date! Nothing says romance like a GoCar.