Spore Druid Mounted OR using Nimble Escape, best weapon/ cantrip choices?

[Ogun]

I'm liking the idea of a Dankwood goblin spore druid.
Conventional wisdom says to melee is the best option for spore druids in the earliest levels, while spells trump latter on, so I'm not inclined to take weapon related feats.
I would like to be mounted and skirmishing, but even unmounted, Nimble escape makes skirmishing work.
What should I use as a melee weapon?
Should I use a melee weapon, or should I just ignore the bonus damage and snipe from afar?

I think Tashas lets me trade in scimitar familiarity for any other martial weapon familiarity.
I prefer to use a shield, but I'm open to other options.
Whip/shield is a strong contender, though I'm inclined to flavor it as a light lance.
An actual lance with a shield would do more base damage, but works poorly when dismounted.
Short swords are a classic for skirmishing rogues.
Short sword and dagger for a ranged option.
A club or clubs would work with Shillelagh.

While on foot, I will need my Bonus Action for Nimble Escape, so I might as well use a Shield.
Mounted, I think dual wielding is better than a two handed weapon, but I'm not sure.
Clearly I'm befuddled, and I'm hopping y'all can help.

[Sorinth]

In terms of weapons I think you are best using Shillelagh and a Shield. A simple tactic would be 1st round Symbiotic Entity + Shillelagh, then attack and BA disengage firing off Halo of Spores as much as possible. But even spore druid will want to use spells in favour of attacking a lot of the time even at low levels, Goblin is good since you can drop a concentration spell and the BA Hide somewhere which if you are mounted might be difficult.

[Ogun]

Shillelagh's bonus action seems to interfere with nimble escape, if only for one turn.
It would key off of Wisdom so maybe it's worthwhile, but I'll need good Dex anyway,
Being mounted would mean using the mounts Disengage to avoid being hit, rather than Nimble Escapes Hiding.
I suppose I could Hide by hanging off the side of the mount, Comanche style, but I don't see that working.

[Sorinth]

Shillelagh's bonus action seems to interfere with nimble escape, if only for one turn.
It would key off of Wisdom so maybe it's worthwhile, but I'll need good Dex anyway,
Being mounted would mean using the mounts Disengage to avoid being hit, rather than Nimble Escapes Hiding.
I suppose I could Hide by hanging off the side of the mount, Comanche style, but I don't see that working.

If your mounted and using the mount to Disengage then there's no BA conflict. Similarly if you are activating your spores in round 1 of combat then you wouldn't be skirmishing that round anyways regardless of being mounted. To hide behind your mount you'd need to be a Halfling or a generous DM, but I don't expect you to be able to be mounted all the time.

Yes you will still want decent dex, but you can better balance Dex/Con when your attack stat is Wisdom. But even low levels I think you'll want to spend some of the time snipping or doing something like thorn whip to pull enemies off your allies (Possibly dragging them through a pre-cast Spike Growth). The extra 1d6 damage from spore druid weapon attacks is not worth building around, it's a just a nice to have.

[Ogun]

I think your advice is sound.
I've used the magic stick with other low level characters, and enjoyed the outcomes.
I would like to save one of my cantrip choices for a non-combat choice, and drawing enemies closer to me isn't appealing, so thorn whip isn't appealing.
Chill Touch gives me long range attack, Shillelagh works up close.
Guidance is the obvious choice, Mold Earth can create cover/concealment almost anywhere.
I wish there was a cantrip to create a ninja style puff of smoke, or simular phenomenon, I would take it in a heartbeat.