This past week was my 31st birthday and we did our annual tradition casino trip. This time we decided to go to the Sands Casino in Bethelhem, PA instead of our usual trip to Atlantic City. We had an amazing meal at Emrils’s Chophouse Burger and gambled a little bit (and lost).

We didn’t wind up staying at the casino hotels because they were extremely over priced with their rates and has no promotions. If you’re looking for an alternative, cheaper place to stay, we stayed at the Comfort Suites which is only 5 minutes away and they offer a free shuttle to the casino up until midnight.

Lucky for me I was able to drive in style with the all knew 2017 Mazda 6 Grand Touring.

The interior made the vehicle feel so luxurious, ivory leather with black trim. Having two boys, I don’t think I could ever have this choice as my day-to-day car since it would be dirty in a matter of days, but we managed to keep it nice and clean for the week, even in the rain and mud.

I mean, look at this. Who wouldn’t want to jump in this car and go for a ride? At only $21k starting MSRP, anyone can afford to drive in style (and Safety!).

The exterior reminds me alot of a BMW, just the curviness and sleek front end. The headlights are just like any new 2017 vehicle, hologen, very bright and have feature to be automatic so that you don’t ever need to remember to turn them on and off.

That’s something I used to whole time as I currently use it in my Ford.

One thing that stands out to me is the number of safety features it has right off the bat. Similar to the 2016 model, which was a top rated safety vehicle of 2016, the 2017 model has the windshield display that is projected and only the driver can see it.

It’s customizable and shows stop signs, vehicle distance and speed limit. It alerts you if you are tailgating too close, or trying to get over when another vehicle is in your blind spot. The navigation also links to this display so that you do not have to take your eyes off of forward view and look at the console. I really liked how the display looks and the subtle alerts are a big help, especially when driving with kids can be distracting (did I mention 2 boys yelling at their tablet games in the back?).

As a compact vehicle, you really do not give up much space with this one. The trunk is huge and can be folded down to the back seat to allow for deeper cargo to be transported. I was able to fit a weeks worth of groceries in the trunk with no  problem.

Gas mileage is WONDERFUL, avg is 32hmpg. I had it for an entire week, with a filled tank i drove out of state to the casino, to and from work daily, which is 25 minutes away, and misc other errands and did not need to put gas on it once.

One of the things we did this week is go to Benihana with the kids. It was my 4 year olds first time there and he enjoyed the flames coming from the hibatchi grill maybe as much as he enjoyed the chopsticks. This is one of my favorite places to eat, the chicken fried rice is to die for! Luckily I’m part of the birthday club so every year I get a $30 certificate to use to cover my meal. If you haven’t been, I suggest you go.

We had a great weekend overall thanks to Mazda for giving us this ride for the week to make it happen!

Last but not least, I want to touch on Mazda’s amazing donation program “drive for good”.  Mazda established the Mazda Drive for Good charitable program as a way to give back to the communities in which it does business. Since it’s launch in 2013, the Mazda program has donated more than $12.9 million, has pledged not than 192,000 charitable service hours, and continues to provide monetary donations and community service throughout the year

I used my card to donate to St. Jude’s Cancer hospital for children as it is something that is very important to me.

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Drive Mazda, Drive for Good.

Here are some additional images of the Mazda6;