I don't understanding why having two different URLs is such a big deal.
It's not about having different URLs, it's about having different code. If your "API" is just your website with a different view/template, why would you have different URLs?
And how do I open the new API thing in my browser?
It's already open: it's the website. If you want to see the data that your code is getting, you get your browser to ask for it, using for example: http://jsonview.com/
