Really the game (on most servers anyway) Lacks healers and Tanks, So I would suggest going as one of them, My first choice for a newcommer would be a Paladin, they kill easily, and are quite hard to die on, However if you prefer Ranged damage to Melee and still want to maintain the choice of going Off-spec Tank/Healer, a Druid would be more suited for you. But really you have a play a variety of classes to find out which one you like best.

And yeah, Nowerdays Grinding is a slow way of leveling, Pre WOTLK/TBC it was better than quests. Also with the XP from PvP now 51 - 60 is done in about 3 hours.