Lance,
Here's the deal: if you read Geoff Shackelford's book, The Golden Age of Golf Design, you realize that Philadelphia was the center of American golf course architecture on the Golden Age. Guys like Tillinghast, Flynn, Wilson, and Thomas were from the area, and others like Ross and Park did a bunch of work there. Those times are reflected by the golf architecture on the ground today.
Some will tell you that this is only true for the private courses, but I have discovered over the last couple of months that is also true for the public courses in the area. It carried over to the modern work of architects like Gil Hanse and Kelly Blake Moran as well. Some publics I would recommend are:
-Inniscrone: it's a drive from Hershey, but it is a great example of understated modern architecture from Hanse. Read Ran's review for some further inspiration.
-Lederach: KBM goes radical after a trip to the British Isles here. Some of the fairways are wide enough to play a bowl game on, setting up plenty of options into some wild greens.
-Morgan Hill: wild terrain and more wild KBM architecture just outside of Easton. Walk it for the full effect.
-Paxon Hollow: Kyle Harris described it as 5,700 yards of fury. A ton of great short par fours over wild terrain, and the most dramatic par three I've played this year at the 15th.
-Jeffersonville: I only got to walk it, but this is a great Ross/Prichard re-do that is a thrift special.
Galen Hall and Reading are ones I hope to see in the future. Check out every one of these courses in Bausch's collection on myphillygolf.com--you should start to see how good the architecture really is on the public side in the Philly area.
On the private side, I would lean towards the Philly area as well, and there are too many good ones to name. Huntingdon Valley, Aronimink, Rolling Green, LuLu, Lancaster, and Manufacturers are among the favorites. Saucon Valley is supposed to be very solid as well: the new bunker work looks great from a recent drive-by.
Ultimately, if you want the great architecture, Philly is the place to be. If you are going to venture to Pittsburgh, Fox Chapel is an absolute gem of a Seth Raynor layout. Otherwise, "Pennsy" is a flat-out phenomenal golf state.