Wow, there's kind of a world of space between plinking and concealed carry--and you're never in a position where you'll have to carry. It's a decision to carry, or a decision not to carry. I don't think it's a matter of 'oh, there's a lot of holdups in my area these days I guess I'll start carrying'.
Anyway, I don't think there's going to a single gun that's going to be a fun plinker and a good carry weapon, but you can certainly plink with any gun you choose.
As for carry, there are definitely folks who carry the 1911 in any of its 100s of forms, but there are also far more folks who complain of carrying anything as heavy as even the small 1911s. Sub-compact 1911s are not known for their reliability, and in fact, while I'm a 1911 bigot and love the platform, I'm not sure I'd consider the average 1911 to be necessarily all that reliable out of the box. Tons of exceptions, but I don't believe you'll know until you own one then find out, one way or the other. The proof is in the shooting--I began my search for a carry gun as a lifelong 1911 Believer, having owned one since I was 13 years old (1967). I also knew I would 'never' buy a plastic gun. About ten test guns later, it was the M&P 45c hands down winner, and two years later it was still the right choice for me. 45ACP is never the wrong choice, if you can score hits, live with the capacity and are okay with the concealability of the particular choice. This is the gun FOR ME...I can shoot it more accurately than ANY handgun I've ever fired, including a $3,000 Les Baer 1911. YOU may not have the same experience.
A lot of folks like 9mm, I don't. I don't find it comfortable to shoot in any gun I've shot it in, don't trust it much as a self defense cartridge, don't want to handload anything that small, and don't feel the need for the extra capacity it generally provides. But, you should definitely find some examples of 9mm auto pistols and shoot them. In my opinion, if you don't at least rent and shoot a Glock or two and an M&P or two (in 9mm) then you're not exploring about 1/2 the world of handguns (for carry). While I don't find any Glock satisfying to shoot, I certainly shot a number of them in my search for a carry weapon--to ignore them in your search is, again, ignoring what is arguable among the most popular, accurate and reliable platforms available.
Everyone has their favorites, and you'll have to find yours. But two things: shooting one box of ammo in one particular gun isn't enough information to conclude much (positive or negative) about the caliber or the gun.
I think a .22 LR pistol for plinking is a great idea for a few reasons--they are as easy and/or as hard to learn to shoot as any handgun in any caliber, they are far cheaper to shoot and that makes them fun, and unless you're out of your mind, you won't be tempted to have it do double duty as your carry weapon--so you won't be choosing a carry gun for the wrong reasons.
An extraordinarily popular line is the Smith and Wesson M&P line, and for plinking I can't imagine having much more fun than the 5" Pro Series guns in 9 or 40. If you plan to handload, my recommendaton would be the 40, but I happen to like 40SW a lot. It can easily be handloaded to provide what I think is a much nicer feel than any factory 9mm, but that's me, not necessarily you. They are relatively inexpensive, many find them more comfortable than GLocks, and they are most certainly easier to look at. For carry, I can't recommend any gun more highly that their .40 compact or .45 compact.
There's quite a bit to learn to shoot any handgun well, IMO, and the ability to dry fire practice will have more positive impact, faster, on your good shooting than any amount of live fire, regardless of caliber. IMO. It may sound silly, but anyone who shoots a lot of handgun (competitively or otherwise) will confirm--dry fire, and transferring what you learn in dry fire to the range--will make more difference than just about anything else you can do.
Don't expect to find the right handgun the first time around, and don't expect your plinker to be a good carry weapon (and vice versa). It's not that likely, IMO. Finally, don't pay much attention to what folks say about recoil this and recoil that--decide for yourself and remember that your response to recoil changes dramatically with practice. But, all the generalizations about 45ACP having huge recoil and 40SW have a harsh 'snappy' recoil is all largely bunkum, IMO. The differences between factory ammos in any caliber is astonishing, and renders all such generalizations pretty much useless. They are beside the point anyway, since you grow accustomed to recoil differences fairly quickly and perceived recoil is driven to a large degree by your platform choice.
Best wishes!