A couple of general questions: Are you sure that you want to play DnD? ie, are you specifically interested in medieval fantasy, or are you just looking for any RPG? If you are primarily interested in a non-combat game, you might want to consider something other than DnD. I'm always going to plug Call of Cthulhu for this sort of thing, as its easy to run, relatively easy to add your own stuff, and focuses on non-combat clue finding over hack and slash.
If you are specifically after DnD though, I'd recommend 4e over 3e, especially if you want to DM. Adventures are somewhat lacking at the moment, but a reasonable number are starting to show up. There's a fair amount of criticism of it, but also a lot of praise, plus the internet tends to magnify negativity.