I did my first ever dives in the Florida keys on a "resort" course. I planned on taking private lessons to get certified with a friend who is an instructor, then doing my OW's in Florida on a vacation. Getting pool time with a private person wasn't easy, and I had to scrap that idea. A shop opened up near me, and I was able to take my classes through them, I also still considered taking my OW's in Florida, because I didn't think quarry diving was that appealing to me. I happened to be on a trip with the wife of one of the instructors, and she told me that the quarry wasn't a bad place to dive, and that it would be better than I thought. (and would cost no more to take my OW there anyway)
So I took my OW's in a local quarry (Bainbridge, PA) and she was right, it wasn't as bad as I imagined. (but didn't think I was suited for quarry diving as a rule)
After that I did a few more dives in Florida because we had a friend that lived in Key West. Once he moved back to PA I was faced with not diving for LONG periods of time. SO I talked to a few people at the shop and hung out with a few OW classes just to get wet, took Nitrox and did a few dives there again, then got hooked on it! The past 4 years I've been going every Wednesday night in the summer, and the past 3 years I've purchased memberships to the quarry. The quarry is VERY challenging, and very fun! I enjoy it as much as when I get to Florida every year, but I get to dive MUCH more!
So to answer your question honestly, there is no advantage OR disadvantage to getting ceritified in one place or the other, other than time frame. I have experienced both easy and challenging dives in both PA and Florida. One of my favorite dives was in the quarry to 100+ feet, with maybe 5-6 feet of visibility over a part of the quarry I hadn't seen prior to that. One of my other favorite dives was a dive off Key Largo on the Duane in a pretty ripping current (but in 50-60 feet of visibility) Two entirely seperate challenges!
My best advice to you is to take your OW cert in the quarry, do some local diving to get a little better at it, then work at getting your AOW. (please don't chump it by taking photo, and boat as electives, take something challenging!)
Like someone else said, unless your local shop (or the place you planned on using in Florida) has some sort of special package to get both, there's no hurry to get AOW.
Seeing that you are from Maryland, there is a shot that they may come to Bainbridge for you to do your dives, Ok, it's cold (below 20-30 feet) It's murky (not dark) and there ARE plenty of fish to see! (and if you go in late summer early fall, there are freshwater jellyfish (no stingers) to see.
Good luck! Hopefully some of this helps your decisions...Diving is diving no matter where it is, and if you want to stick to it and dive locally, you may as well get acclimated to the quarry now!