Good question from joejack951 about what kind of riding you expect to do. I have a Jamis Coda Comp and I have been quite pleased with it. But it's my car. I commute 14 miles round trip to work on it over city streets (neighborhood streets, collector streets, and arterials) and I use it to run errends, go to church, go shopping, and get to meetings. There are some things I'd change about it but overall it's been a great bike. I ride the living daylights out of it and I've done nothing to it but routine maintenance. My LBS did replace the 11-32 freewheel with a 12-24 because I didn't need the low end range, though I do miss the 11. The 28mm tires that came on the bike are a good compromise for me, wide enough but not too wide. I don't ride the bike in serious offroad settings. But if I want to take off across the middle of a public park, the bike will handle it with no problems.
Good luck in making a choice. Like you, when I got back into biking I hadn't ridden in years. Starting to bike is one of the best decisions I ever made. I'm just sorry I didn't do it when I was 25 instead of 45.