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?