  We describe a frequency stabilized diode laser at 698 nm used for high
resolution spectroscopy of the 1S0-3P0 strontium clock transition. For the
laser stabilization we use state-of-the-art symmetrically suspended optical
cavities optimized for very low thermal noise at room temperature. Two-stage
frequency stabilization to high finesse optical cavities results in measured
laser frequency noise about a factor of three above the cavity thermal noise
between 2 Hz and 11 Hz. With this system, we demonstrate high resolution remote
spectroscopy on the 88Sr clock transition by transferring the laser output over
a phase-noise-compensated 200 m-long fiber link between two separated
laboratories. Our dedicated fiber link ensures a transfer of the optical
carrier with frequency stability of 7 \cdot 10^{-18} after 100 s integration
time, which could enable the observation of the strontium clock transition with
an atomic Q of 10^{14}. Furthermore, with an eye towards the development of
transportable optical clocks, we investigate how the complete laser system
(laser+optics+cavity) can be influenced by environmental disturbances in terms
of both short- and long-term frequency stability.
