John, Moderator Mike's right about this question being a rough fit for this particular forum, but I'll give it a try.
Like K7MEM said, CB is not amateur radio. It can be a reasonable introduction to it though. Do you have a group of locals you talk with on CB? Is it fun? If so, then there you go, this is the right answer for you.
That Cobra is a fine CB, even though it's AM-only. Some people do single sideband CB as a sort of "ham lite" and have a great deal of fun making contacts ~1200 miles away at the first skip distance. And it is fun, essentially like the 10 meter ham band, without all the licensing but with a good deal more nonsense going on.
The A99 is a fine antenna. Yes, there are better out there, but not at the price, and usually it's a very easy plug-and-play unit. It does a great job for "working skip," or more properly, sending and receiving at the right angles for skywave propagation. It's not always the best for local work, but it will reach out 15 miles or more. Maybe more importantly, if you do step up to ham, hang onto it because it works well on the 17, 15, 12, 10, and 6 meter ham bands. That's a big plus if and when you get your ham license.
^^^^ What K7MEM said about the coax you mentioned.
Finally, I'm going to recommend the book "Ham Radio for Dummies." If you don't know the "For Dummies" series, they're actually books for smart people who are just getting into a new field. Anyway, when I was thinking about getting into ham, this book was a great help with figuring out the lay of land, so to speak.
OK, that's all I've got this morning and it's time for work. Good luck, ask if you have any more questions.