The Plains is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia. It is home to Great Meadow, a large open-air and open-field facility that hosts several large events throughout the year, including the Virginia Gold Cup steeplechase horse race, which attracts over 50,000 guests on the first Saturday of each May. Long Branch Baptist Church (est. 1786), the third oldest Baptist Church in Virginia, lies a little bit to the north, in the unincorporated area called 'Halfway.' The evangelist William Broaddus, founder of Southwestern Seminary in Louisville, was pastor there in the 1830s. His nephew, John Broadus is often called 'the father of homeletics (preaching)'. Actor Robert Duvall used to operate a restaurant in the Plains, and still makes his residence north of town in 'Halfway'. The National Association of Rocketry will hold NARAM-50 there in the summer of 2008. Stay in a The Plains bed and breakfast or The Plains Inn to round out your stay. Less