I love a good bagel but have trouble finding them locally
I also love bagels! I am sorry to hear that you are struggling to find the locally, but I know what you mean. It is hard to find a freshly baked bagel that is deliciously dense, chewy, and doughy with a beautiful crisp exterior
Yes and I moved to a southern state and they seem to prefer biscuits here to bagels
That is too bad, Maybe try the Jewish community within your area, because bagels originate from Jewish communities in Poland. You may be able to find some great bagels there! 
Yeah not much of a Jewish community here but family will overnight me a batch of bagels once in a while from up north
That is great, you are lucky to have family that can make you a batch of bagels. Do you have a favourite type of bagel? For example a bagel topped with traditional poppy seeds or sesame seeds?  
Poppy seed is my absolute favorite
sesame seeds. Some may have salt sprinkled on their surface, and there are different dough types, such as whole-grain or rye. Bagels are eaten toasted or untoasted. 
Though the origins of bagels are somewhat obscure, it is known that they were widely consumed by Ashkenazi Jews from the 17th century. The first known mention of the bagel, in 1610, was in Jewish community ordinances in Kraków, Poland.
Bagels are now a popular bread product in North America, especially in cities with a large Jewish
Bagel
A bagel ( '; ), also historically spelled beigel, is a bread product originating in the Jewish communities of Poland.
It is traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, that is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. Bagels are often topped with seeds baked on the outer crust, with the traditional ones being poppy or