Mitchell was once a great made in the USA product but they are now light years behind the curve and have been for many years.
Shimano is a great choice but another less known option is an Okumo. They are very moderate priced with exceptional quality. We use them in the salt water a lot for the light tackle stuff. If looking at the heavier tackle Penn is a good choice also. Avoid the lowest end models of any of them and lean up toward the middle or better. They all make low end football pricing stuff for the mass markets.
http://www.okumafishing.com/prodhome.php
Rods: G Loomis is top shelf but way above the novice level and extremely expensive. Definitely not for the cigar at the lakeside.
St Croix is a good choice and also look at Fenwick which is my moderate priced choice. There are a lot of good rods on the market these days but you need to go somewhere that knows what they are talking about to help you. Cabelas and Bass Pro are hit or miss as to knowledge.